Gracie Fighter is reporting that Nick Diaz will be fighting Hayato “Mach” Sakurai in DREAM:
Nick Diaz v. Hayato Sakurai Planned For DREAM.15
Nick Diaz will be fighting in Japan against Mach Sakurai in Dream’s May 29th show. The fight was scheduled as an ongoing cooperation between Strikeforce and the Dream organizations. As Strikeforce’s Welterweight Champion, Diaz vs Sakurai will be held at the 170lbs weight limit.
This will be a non-title fight. Dream had considered hosting a Diaz-Zaromskis rematch for the Dream Championship Belt but ultimately decided to go with a fight for the Japanese fans. When asked for comment Diaz replied “Good. I’ve been trying to fight this guy for a long time now.”
There had previously been talk that Sakurai/Diaz would be happening in Strikeforce but the fight certainly makes more sense in DREAM where the fight is a much easier sell than Diaz taking on yet another foreigner that no one outside of the hardcore community is familiar with.
Sakurai is on a two fight losing streak at current, having gotten knocked out by Marius Zaromskis and then submitted by Akihiro Gono. Diaz, on the other hand, is at the peak of his career and riding a six fight win streak. In his last bout Diaz brutalized Zaromskis to win the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship.
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