''Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley'' was a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

event held by

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *'' Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *'' Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *''Marvel Strike Force'', ...

, the event took place on April 9, 2011, at the

Valley View Casino Center Pechanga Arena (historically known as the San Diego Sports Arena) is an indoor arena built in 1966 and located in the Midway area of San Diego, California. The arena seats 12,000 for indoor football, 12,920 for ice hockey, indoor soccer a ...

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, United States.

Background

This was the first non-Challengers event that Strikeforce held under the management of their new owners

Zuffa Zuffa, LLC () is an American sports promotion company specializing in mixed martial arts. It was founded in January 2001 in Las Vegas, Nevada, by Station Casinos executives Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta to be the parent entity of the ...

, who bought the promotion the previous month. This event was originally expected to feature

Alistair Overeem Alistair Cees Overeem (born 17 May 1980) is a Dutch professional heavyweight mixed martial artist and kickboxer, currently competing in the heavyweight division of Glory. He is a former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Dream Heavyweight C ...

vs.

Fabrício Werdum Fabrício Werdum (; born 30 July 1977) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC Heavyweight Champion who competes in the Heavyweight division. He is also a 4-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, a two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club Wor ...

and

Josh Barnett Joshua Lawrence Barnett (born November 10, 1977) is an American mixed martial artist, submission grappler, professional wrestler and color commentator currently signed to Bellator MMA, where he competes in their Heavyweight division. Barnett p ...

vs.

Brett Rogers Brett Charles Rogers (born February 17, 1981) is an American former mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2005, Rogers has fought in EliteXC, Strikeforce, and Bellator. Ba ...

, the two remaining quarter-final fights in the Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament. Both the event and the fights were listed on Strikeforce's official site. However, on March 2, 2011, Scott Coker confirmed the bouts were being moved to the Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum event to be held in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, on June 18 with Overeem & Barnett winning the rescheduled bouts.

K. J. Noons Karl James "K.J." Noons (born December 7, 1982) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist, as well as a former professional boxer and kickboxer. Noons competed for UFC, Strikeforce, DREAM and EliteXC. He is the former EliteXC ...

was expected to make his return to lightweight on this card, but a bout did not materialize.

Mike Kyle Michael Andrew Kyle (born March 31, 1980) is an American professional mixed martial artist and boxer currently competing in the Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2001, Kyle has competed for the UFC, the WEC, Strikeforce, the ...

was scheduled to face

Gegard Mousasi Gegard Mousasi (born 1 August 1985), is a Dutch mixed martial artist and former kickboxer, currently competing in Bellator MMA, where he is the former two-time Bellator Middleweight Champion. As of December 13, 2022, he is #10 in the Bellator MMA ...

, but withdrew from the bout on March 31, 2011, due to a broken hand.

Keith Jardine Keith Jardine (born October 31, 1975) is an American actor and retired mixed martial artist who most notably competed in the UFC and Strikeforce. Jardine was known for upset victories in bouts he took at short notice against highly rated fight ...

agreed to step in on one week's notice to fight Mousasi. The Mousasi/Kyle bout finally took place at Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine in January 2013, where Mousasi submitted Kyle with a rear naked choke in the first round. This is the last non-Challengers Strikeforce event to feature men's bouts in weight classes below lightweight. The event drew an estimated average of 528,000 viewers, however peaked at 806,000 viewers.

Results

Payroll

Nick Diaz: $175,000 (no win bonus) def. Paul Daley: $65,000 Gilbert Melendez: $150,000 (no win bonus) def. Tatsuya Kawajiri: $97,612.50 Gegard Mousasi: $150,000 drew Keith Jardine: $25,000 Shinya Aoki: $73,637.50 (no win bonus) def. Lyle Beerbohm: $10,000 Robert Peralta: $4,000 (includes $2,000 win bonus) def. Hiroyuki Takaya: $2,740 Virgil Zwicker: $3,000 ($1,000 win bonus) def. Brett Albee: $1,000 Joe Duarte: $2,000 ($1,000 win bonus) def. Saad Awad: $1,500 Herman Terrado: $1,500 ($500 win bonus) def. A.J. Matthews: $1,000 Rolando Perez: $3,000 ($1,000 win bonus) def. Tom Peterson: $1,000 Casey Ryan: $2,000 ($1,000 win bonus) def. Paul Song: $750

References

{{Strikeforce Events Diaz vs. Daley 2011 in mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts in San Diego 2011 in sports in California April 2011 sports events in the United States Sports competitions in San Diego