On April 11, 2009, perennial welterweight contender Nick Diaz defeated MMA legend Frank Shamrock via TKO. Shamrock is a 185lb fighter, so the two met at a catch weight of 179lbs. Because of Frank Shamrock's legendary reputation and usual higher weight class, I put more than enough confidence in him prior to this fight. Diaz usually exibits when in the MMA world they call "pitter pat" punches in his fights, and Shamrock has serious punching power. Both fighters like to keep things standing, so this was a clear Shamrock victory for me. It turned out, however, that Diaz was able to TKO Shamrock with his longer reach, yet weaker punches. While Shamrock looked off that night, I couldn't help but feel that he should have taken the fight to the ground with his superior wrestling. While Diaz has great Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Frank could have controlled him on the ground like Sean Sherk once did in the UFC. Shamrock has a good chin like Sherk, so why not just manhandle the lanky fighter like the former UFC lightweight champ did? Some fighters need to realize that certain matchups favor them stylistcly, and some don't. If someone has reach on you, why not wrestle them and use their length against their game? As a striker and wrestler, Shamrock should have wreslted the long reach out of Diaz like Sherk had. As a consequence, he suffered an embarassing loss to a guy he has been feuding with. Styles make fights.
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