Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Strikeforce Fights

10. Nick Diaz vs. K.J. Noons 2 | Oct. 29, 2010

The elder Diaz is a fighter whose battles we will be discussing a lot, and his first appearance is the rematch against the unfairly forgotten, superbly talented striker Noons. Diaz attained the apex of his career in Strikeforce, going 6-0, winning the welterweight championship and defending it three times. His first defense came in late 2010 against Noone, a man who had thoroughly thrashed him three years ago in the EliteXC promotion, with the contest being stopped due to a cut. Diaz was eager to prove how much he had improved as a martial artist and get revenge. Noons was at the very peak of his career, too; after the win over Diaz, the then 27-year-old had gone 4-0 including knockouts of Yves Edwards and Jorge Gurgel. Their second clash was an absolute classic that went the full 25 minutes. In the first round, Diaz showed how much respect he had for Noons. Rather than coming forward aggressively with no thought to defense as he normally did, Diaz instead kept his distance and used head movement to evade many of Noons' punches. Noons caught Diaz with a gorgeous leaping left hook to the chin, but Diaz immediately responded with a short chopping right hook that hurt his foe and led to a takedown. Noons got back to his feet neatly, but Diaz showed how much his boxing had improved in the past three years, displaying much better technique with while moving and defending well, not giving his opponent the same opportunities he had in their first meeting. The round ended with Diaz taunting and Noons responding with a nice left hook to the face. Early in the second, Noons landed another terrific left hook, this one opening a cut on Diaz's face. Noons dominated the rest of the round, scoring repeatedly with left hooks to the head and body, and even adding a right cross and jumping knee to the body for good measure.

The entire right side of Diaz's face was awash with blood as he headed to the corner. Did Noons simply have his number? Round 3 saw yet another dramatic shift in momentum, as Noons slowed down while Diaz continued firing away, once again dodging well while scoring with a never-ending stream of punches in bunches. The stanza ended with Noons' face caked with blood as well, with the crowd celebrating jubilantly. Noons showed his toughness in the fourth, landing a solid right cross as Diaz began to tire as well. Both men then met in the center of the cage and went toe-to-toe, exchanging big blows as the crowd exploded with excitement. On the strength of a hard clinch knee followed by a chopping left that hurt Noons, Diaz appeared to have a slight edge in the stanza as Mauro Ranallo yelled, “Bring on the last five minutes! We're in the midst of a classic!” Despite being tired, both warriors continue hammering away in the final frame, each landing heavy straight rights. In fact, they continue firing blows all the way until the final bell, each of their faces a bloody, battered mess, as the crowd gave them a standing ovation. In the end, Diaz had triumphed by unanimous decision, proving that he could defeat a talented, more technical striker, and showing how much he had improved during his Strikeforce tenure. This was a true gem, and far from the last Diaz fight we will examine.

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