At the upcoming Strikeforce event on January 29, Nick Diaz will put his Welterweight Title on the line against a hungry and determined Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (18-13). Although the 170 lb. division is still somewhat new to Santos, he is a completely new fighter at the lighter weight.
Santos began his career at light heavyweight. For nearly ten years, the Brazilian would rack up wins throughout Brazil and Venezuela. Although he had success at light heavyweight, he was unable to earn enough consecutive victories to bring him close to a title. After fighting most of his career at light heavyweight, Santos made the move to middleweight in 2007, though he didn’t stay for long. With little success in that division as well, he ultimately made the decision to move into the welterweight division and made his debut at Strikeforce: Los Angeles last June. He would face off against Dream superstar Marius Zaromskis, who would not be an easy fight. Santos came out the gate impressively and dominated the bout, ending it in the first round via TKO.
The bout with Zaromskis proved that moving to welterweight was the right choice for Santos. He looked at his best on his feet and showed no signs of being effected by the weight cut.
Coming into his bout with Nick Diaz, Santos will have a much larger test in front of him. Diaz is a unorthadox striker who’s punches come from odd angles, yet can take a punch himself. The Stockton native also has a nasty ground game that could easily overcome even the best grapplers. For obvious reasons, Santos is coming into this fight as the underdog, though his determination to finally hold a world title could oversees all odds.
The welterweight bout between Diaz and Santos will headline the Strikeforce event later this month in San Jose, California. Along with the welterweight title fight the event will also feature a middleweight title fight between champion Ronaldo Souza and Robbie Lawler. Big name fighters Herschal Walker and Roger Gracie will compete in separate bouts that will round out the main card for the night.
