Tonight’s Strikeforce “Diaz vs. Noons II” live blog is brought to you by Fighters Guard MMA Agents and Intimidation MMA Apparel.
Strikeforce Welterweight Championship
1st round – The referee for this lightweight title bout is Josh Rosenthal. Noons is waiting for Diaz in the center of the cage and stalks after him. Diaz snaps a low leg kick and then slaps Noons with a right hand. Diaz slaps Noons with a right hand behind the head and then kicks him in the thigh. Diaz pops Noons with a straight right hand but Noons lands a combo of his own. Diaz stuns Noons and puts him on the canvas. Diaz quickly takes dominant position and lands in side control. Diaz is slowly working for a mount position but Noons defends the best he can. Diaz crawls into a mount but Noons breaks free and makes it to his feet. Diaz leaves his hands to his side and squares off in the center of the cage. Noons misses with an uppercut and is hit with a head kick. He continues to push forward and defends against a takedown attempt. Noons is trying to change position but loses the position battle instead. Noons takes a couple of shots but lands a right and a left hook as the bell ends the round. (Diaz 10-9)
2nd round – Both fighters look fresh as they come out for the 2nd round. Diaz lands a nice combo as does Noons, who looks to have cut open Diaz once again. Noons makes Diaz miss and lands a hard left hand but takes a couple of straight left hands anyway. Diaz is cut open and bleeding badly as Noons continues to land body shots now. Diaz lands a body kick and then backs away from an offensive Noons. Noons grazes Diaz with a leaping knee and then lands a hard right to the body. Noons continues to push forward and hits Diaz with an uppercut that puts Diaz back on his heels. Diaz hits with a couple of straight left hands but Noons hits with another uppercut. Diaz hits with a push kick to the head of Noons and then follows with a body shot. Noons fights back with a knee and then escapes a clinch attempt by Diaz. Noons hits with a leaping kick to the chin of Diaz just as the bell ends the round. (Noons 10-9)
3rd round – Diaz has the bleeding stopped at the beginning of the 3rd round and comes out waiting for Noons. Noons and Diaz exchange left hands and then Noons hits with a low left kick. Diaz stumbles and hits with a left hand before both fighters exchange strikes. Diaz hits with a left hand and then hits with an overhand right hand. It’s Noons who answers with a left hand. Diaz puts his face in Noons’ range but Noons doesnt buy i t. They trade with straights, uppers, and hooks for the next several moments. Noons reuses his left jab but Diaz whips Noons with a leg kick. Diaz works the body of Noons now and then clips him with a straight left hand to the face. Diaz kicks Noons and Noons fights back with a wild uppercut right before the bell sounds. (Diaz 10-9)
4th round - The fourth round begins with a nice whipping kick by Diaz across the shin of Noons. Noons blocks a body shot and then hits with a left uppercut. Diaz misses with a couple of straights but hits with his next flurry. Noons pushes a couple of right hands in the face of Diaz. Diaz fights back and catches Noons with a straight left hand. Noons comes right back with a combination that pops Diaz’ head back. Both fightes connect with several shots to the body and face for the next thirty seconds. After a short lull in action, Diaz backs up and catches Noons’ next flurry. Noons clips Diaz in the jaw and then defends against a hard knee by Diaz. Diaz hammered Noons with an inside knee but didnt go after him. He instead chose to use a spinning back kick although the kick didnt work. (Noons 10-9)
5th round – Both fighters look very tired as they come out for the last round of this title affair. Noons lands first with a body shot that puts Diaz on his heels. Diaz quickly works his way back to the middle. Noons misses and then turns his attention to the body of Diaz. Diaz is concentrating on the body of Noons. Diaz is now bleeding again but comes forward and hits Noons with a left hand to the body. Diaz hits with a left uppercut but Noons answers with an upper of his own. Diaz is next to land a combo and he clinches with Noons. Noons is landing the uppercut on a consistent basis now. Diaz is answering to crowd with some wild strikes. Noons misses with a lunging right hand as the bell ends the fight. (Diaz 10-9)
Official Decision – Diaz over Noons (48-27, 49-27, 49-46) via unanimous decision