Sakurai and Diaz to Battle for Dream Welterweight Title
Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 5:21 pm
Sakurai and Diaz to Battle for Dream Welterweight Title
Following his April 29 TKO win over Katsuya Inoue at Dream.3, UFC veteran and current EXC lightweight contender Nick Diaz will face off against PRIDE and Shooto veteran Hayato “Mach” Sakurai for Dream’s welterweight championship.
The bout is set to take place at Dream.5 in Osaka, Japan on July 21.
Diaz (16-7, 1 NC) has had ups-and-downs since 2004. Compiling a 7-4 record in the UFC, Diaz was released by the company. In February of 2007 he was awarded the biggest win of his career by tapping out PRIDE’s lightweight champion Takanori Gomi with a gogoplata. The win was overturned however, when the Nevada State Athletic Commission stated that they believed Diaz was under the influence of marijuana at the time of the fight, and that it helped him win by “dulling the pain.” Since the controversy Diaz has gone 2-1, winning a close split decision over Mike Aina, losing due to a cut against K.J. Noons for EXC’s lightweight title, and most recently defeating Inoue.
Diaz holds notable wins over current EXC middleweight champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler, Gleison Tibau, Harris Sarmiento, and Drew Fickett.
Sakurai (32-8-2) had a five-fight win streak recently broken by David Baron at Shooto’s twentieth-anniversary event, where he was stopped with a guillotine choke. Sakurai built up his reputation with wins in PRIDE, Shooto, and DEEP where he defeated fighters such as Shinya Aoki, former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver, former Shooto champion Joachim Hansen, Luiz Azeredo, and Frank Trigg. Despite losses to Takanori Gomi, Jake Shields, and Anderson Silva, Sakurai has been regarded as one of the top fighters in the world, both pound-for-pound and in his division.
Following his April 29 TKO win over Katsuya Inoue at Dream.3, UFC veteran and current EXC lightweight contender Nick Diaz will face off against PRIDE and Shooto veteran Hayato “Mach” Sakurai for Dream’s welterweight championship.
The bout is set to take place at Dream.5 in Osaka, Japan on July 21.
Diaz (16-7, 1 NC) has had ups-and-downs since 2004. Compiling a 7-4 record in the UFC, Diaz was released by the company. In February of 2007 he was awarded the biggest win of his career by tapping out PRIDE’s lightweight champion Takanori Gomi with a gogoplata. The win was overturned however, when the Nevada State Athletic Commission stated that they believed Diaz was under the influence of marijuana at the time of the fight, and that it helped him win by “dulling the pain.” Since the controversy Diaz has gone 2-1, winning a close split decision over Mike Aina, losing due to a cut against K.J. Noons for EXC’s lightweight title, and most recently defeating Inoue.
Diaz holds notable wins over current EXC middleweight champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler, Gleison Tibau, Harris Sarmiento, and Drew Fickett.
Sakurai (32-8-2) had a five-fight win streak recently broken by David Baron at Shooto’s twentieth-anniversary event, where he was stopped with a guillotine choke. Sakurai built up his reputation with wins in PRIDE, Shooto, and DEEP where he defeated fighters such as Shinya Aoki, former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver, former Shooto champion Joachim Hansen, Luiz Azeredo, and Frank Trigg. Despite losses to Takanori Gomi, Jake Shields, and Anderson Silva, Sakurai has been regarded as one of the top fighters in the world, both pound-for-pound and in his division.