DREAM Welterweight Champion Marius “The Whitemare” Zaromskis will face a tough test in his upcoming Strikeforce debut, as he is set to battle former UFC and EliteXC contender Nick Diaz to determine the first Strikeforce Welterweight Champion. The fight will take place at Strikeforce: Miami on January 30th.
Zaromskis won the 2009 DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix earlier this year and will look to add even more gold to his growing collection when he meets the ever-controversial Diaz to determine the first 170-pound champion.
Zaromskis (13-3-0) was a top contender in the former Cage Rage promotion, but came up short in a pair of bouts with TUF 9 castaway Che Mills. Following the promotion’s closure, he entered the DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix at Dream.8 and picked up a hard-fought decision win over Seichi Ikemoto.
It was Zaromski’s tournament semi-final and final bouts at Dream.10 that turned him into an overnight sensation, however. He first stopped Japanese legend Hayato “Mach” Sakurai with a head kick midway through the first round of their fight, then captured the Grand Prix title with a vicious head-kick knockout of Jason High later that night.
Now affectionately compared to Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović, Zaromskis knocked out South Korea’s Myeon Ho Bae with yet another head kick at Dream.12: “The Cage of the Rising Sun” in October. An aggressive striker, Zaromskis has won 10 fights by knockout and is known for having exciting fights.
Diaz (20-7-0, 1 ND), no stranger to exciting fights himself, is often known as much for his antics outside of the cage as for his performances within. The former UFC contender was one of the top stars in the now-defunct EliteXC promotion, but a loss to KJ Noons prevented the brash Diaz from ever holding title gold.
Coming off of a pair of impressive stoppages over Frank “The Legend” Shamrock and Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith in Strikeforce, the latter of which saw Diaz set records for most strikes thrown in a single fight, Diaz was set to face final IFL Welterweight Champion Jay “The Thoroughbred” Hieron in August. However, the proposed title fight was cancelled when Diaz failed to show up for a pre-fight drug test.
With Hieron now apparently on the sidelines, Diaz will look to finally capture the major title that he has been chasing for the past four years when he meets Zaromskis in January. As both fighters look to push the pace, the fight could very well end quickly and abruptly.
Strikeforce: Miami takes place on January 30, 2010 at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida. The event also features a Strikeforce Women’s Lightweight (145-Pound) Championship bout between Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos and Marloes Coenen.