Strikeforce’s “Shamrock vs. Diaz” Event: Barely Relevant, But Sure to Entertain
Published by Jim Genia on April 11th, 2009 in Current Events

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When EliteXC crashed and burned, a deep void was left in the hearts of MMA fans everywhere – a void once filled with the carnival-style match-ups of Kimbo Slice versus Tomato Can, UFC castoff versus UFC castoff and star female fighter versus superstar female fighter, but now left gaping and empty. Enter Strikeforce, the long-running West Coast promotion, which bought up EliteXC’s fighter contracts to broadcast events in EliteXC’s old Showtime and CBS slots. Strikeforce aims to fill that void, and this Saturday – their first installment since taking over – brings us the joy of UFC legend Frank Shamrock taking on High Times magazine poster boy Nick Diaz, slugger Scott Smith facing slugger Benji Radach, former Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez battling BodogFIGHT veteran Rodrigo Damm, and EliteXC heavyweight refugee Brett Rogers squaring off against “The Iron Ring” winner Abongo Humphrey. (As of this writing, the female bout of Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos and Hitomi Akano is up in the air due to Cyborg failing to make weight.) The match-ups are barely relevant in the world of MMA rankings, but they’re sure to entertain.

Shamrock has nothing left to offer fight fans except for moderately dangerous kickboxing and a ton of showboating, while Diaz seems to have left his best (and aggressive) days behind him. Yet put the two together and you have what could be an exciting knockout or smooth submission waiting to happen – and if neither happens, there’s bound to be enough trash talk to make a sailor blush.

Though neither fighter went far during their tenure in the Octagon, Smith and Radach have made decent enough homes for themselves in any organization looking for knockout artists – a list that includes memorable runs in EliteXC, the IFL and, for Smith, Strikeforce. There is about a zero chance someone is going to get submitted in this bout. Instead, someone is getting revived via smelling salts.

Melendez was the man in the Strikeforce lightweight division until Josh Thomson came and beat the hell out of him. Their rematch was supposed to happen at this event, but an injury forced Thomson out and allowed Damm to step in. At stake is an interim championship, which, if Melendez still has that ultra-intense wrestler still in him, should wind up his.

Rogers is credited with knocking out Jon Murphy in the first bout ever broadcast on live network television. What has that gotten him? Months and months of inactivity, as finding him opponents is apparently now a monumental task. Thankfully, Humphrey has stepped up, and while the Iron Ring veteran is giving up a decent amount of weight to the big-punching Rogers, he’s a bit of a hard striker himself. Fans can expect a KO in this one for sure.

Shamrock/Diaz, Smith/Radach, Melendez/Damm and Rogers/Humphrey – none of these pairings means a darn thing in the grand scheme of things, but anyone who tunes into Showtime on Saturday is going to be rewarded with some entertaining fights.