Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley
| Company type | Mixed martial arts event |
|---|---|
| Industry | Sports entertainment |
| Founded | April 9, 2011 |
| Headquarters | San Diego, California , United States |
Area served | United States |
Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley was a mixed martial arts competition organized by Strikeforce on April 9, 2011. The event took place at the Valley View Casino Center located in San Diego, California.
Background
This marked the inaugural major Strikeforce event following the acquisition of the promotion by Zuffa the previous month.
Initially, the fight card was scheduled to feature quarter-final Heavyweight Grand Prix matchups between Alistair Overeem and Fabrício Werdum, as well as Josh Barnett versus Brett Rogers. However, these bouts were postponed and later held at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum in June 2011. Both Overeem and Barnett emerged victorious in their rescheduled contests.
K. J. Noons was anticipated to make a return to the lightweight division but ultimately did not participate in this event.
Mike Kyle was originally slated to face Gegard Mousasi, but withdrew due to a hand injury. He was replaced on short notice by Keith Jardine. The initially planned Kyle versus Mousasi fight occurred subsequently in January 2013, with Mousasi securing a submission victory.
This event was the final Strikeforce main card, excluding Challengers events, to include men's fights below the lightweight division.
Television viewership averaged 528,000, reaching a peak audience of 806,000.
Payroll
Nick Diaz: $175,000 (no win bonus) defeated Paul Daley: $65,000
Gilbert Melendez: $150,000 (no win bonus) defeated Tatsuya Kawajiri: $97,612.50
Gegard Mousasi: $150,000 fought to a draw with Keith Jardine: $25,000
Shinya Aoki: $73,637.50 (no win bonus) defeated Lyle Beerbohm: $10,000
Robbie Peralta: $4,000 (including $2,000 win bonus) defeated Hiroyuki Takaya: $2,740
Virgil Zwicker: $3,000 (including $1,000 win bonus) defeated Brett Albee: $1,000
Joe Duarte: $2,000 (including $1,000 win bonus) defeated Saad Awad: $1,500
Herman Terrado: $1,500 (including $500 win bonus) defeated A.J. Matthews: $1,000
Rolando Perez: $3,000 (including $1,000 win bonus) defeated Edgar Cardenas: $1,000
Casey Ryan: $2,000 (including $1,000 win bonus) defeated Paul Song: $750