Author: Ben Fowlkes

Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg Weigh-In Results

Filed under: StrikeforceSAN JOSE — MMA Fighting will have live coverage of the Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg weigh-ins from HP Pavilion. Fighters are scheduled to step on the scales at 4 pm PT on Friday afternoon. Full weigh-in results are below.

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SAN JOSE — MMA Fighting will have live coverage of the Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg weigh-ins from HP Pavilion. Fighters are scheduled to step on the scales at 4 pm PT on Friday afternoon. Full weigh-in results are below.

Nick Diaz: If I Lose This Fight, I’m Going to the Hospital

Filed under: StrikeforceSAN JOSE — Normally, Nick Diaz said, he doesn’t like fighting people he knows. He doesn’t even particularly like fighting people he’s met before, or people he’s so much as socially “acquainted” with.

But his newest challenger…

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SAN JOSE — Normally, Nick Diaz said, he doesn’t like fighting people he knows. He doesn’t even particularly like fighting people he’s met before, or people he’s so much as socially “acquainted” with.

But his newest challenger, Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos? He’s okay, and there seems to be one simple reason why the Strikeforce welterweight champ can be familiar with his upcoming opponent and yet not have anything at all bad to say about him.

“He doesn’t really speak English,” Diaz told MMA Fighting. “I’ve met him. He’s cool. I’ve got respect for him. But I mean, he doesn’t really speak English so it’s not like we’ve had a bunch of conversations.”

Friendships have been built on frailer ground.

Herschel Walker: A Lot of Guys Don’t Want to Fight Me

Filed under: StrikeforceSAN JOSE – As Herschel Walker took his seat among a lineup of vastly more experienced fighters at Thursday’s Strikeforce press conference, ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. – a man whose job requires him to work in hyperbole the w…

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SAN JOSE – As Herschel Walker took his seat among a lineup of vastly more experienced fighters at Thursday’s Strikeforce press conference, ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. – a man whose job requires him to work in hyperbole the way some artists work in oils – called him “the greatest athlete in the world.”

It’s the kind of statement that might get tossed out easily and maybe even thoughtlessly in all the megaphone barking of fight promotion, but the 48-year-old Walker, who’s been everything from an NFL running back to an Olympic bobsledder, doesn’t take it lightly.

“I don’t know whether I feel up to that,” Walker told MMA Fighting. “I think I’m a pretty good athlete, but there are a lot of good athletes out there. Even though I’ve done a lot of things and done them at the highest level, that’s a bold statement to make. I think it’s great to hear it, but I don’t know if you can ever really say it.”

Nick Diaz: ‘Cyborg’ Santos Better Than Other Potential Strikeforce Challengers

Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsSAN JOSE – Unlike recent Strikeforce conference calls, there was no rancor and not even the hint of a rant when the fighters gathered for a subdued press conference to promote Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg …

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SAN JOSE – Unlike recent Strikeforce conference calls, there was no rancor and not even the hint of a rant when the fighters gathered for a subdued press conference to promote Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg event at the HP Pavilion.

Welterweight champ Nick Diaz expressed admiration and respect for the challenger, Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, as well as for Santos’ wife, women’s 145-pound Strikeforce champ Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos, who was also in attendance.

“I think he’s a great fighter,” Diaz said of the male “Cyborg.” “He’s better than the other guys they had in line.”

Herschel Walker and Scott Carson a Study in Contrasts at Strikeforce Presser

Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsSAN JOSE – Herschel Walker made two things very clear at Thursday afternoon’s pre-fight press conference at the HP Pavilion: 1) he is totally, fully invested in his MMA training, no matter what skeptics might think, and 2)…

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SAN JOSE – Herschel Walker made two things very clear at Thursday afternoon’s pre-fight press conference at the HP Pavilion: 1) he is totally, fully invested in his MMA training, no matter what skeptics might think, and 2) he owns a “chicken company” that somehow doesn’t get any press even with all the media attention on his second pro fight this Saturday night at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg.

“I have a food company. I don’t know if you all know that but you need to write that up,” said Walker. “I have a chicken company that sells to Sysco. It’s the largest minority-owned chicken company in the United States. I have over 600 employees. I’m serious, you need to write that down.”

The point is, the reason the 48-year-old waited so long to get involved in MMA wasn’t because he wasn’t interested, Walker said. It’s just that he was busy with his company, Renaissance Man Food Services, and he doesn’t believe in doing anything just a little bit. That’s why he told his employees that if they called him while he was training at AKA that they would be summarily fired, and also why he’s spent the better part of the last year living in a hotel just to be near the gym.

Take Him for Granted Now, but You’ll Miss Nick Diaz When He’s Gone

Filed under: StrikeforceHere’s a depressing thought: some day Nick Diaz will stop fighting.

Some day, either from the ravages of age, the allure of outside interests, or maybe just a growing distaste for the sport and all its inhabitants, Diaz will t…

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Here’s a depressing thought: some day Nick Diaz will stop fighting.

Some day, either from the ravages of age, the allure of outside interests, or maybe just a growing distaste for the sport and all its inhabitants, Diaz will take his defiant sneer and his expletive-laden sound bytes and leave us behind.

Whether we realize it yet or not, that’s going to be a sad day for MMA. Maybe a better way to put it is, it’s going to lead to a bunch of boring days thereafter. Because when you stop and think about it, there may be no more original — between his interviews, antics, and actual athletic performances — or more entertaining fighter in the entire sport.