ROUNDTABLE: Which fight of the two major April cards (Diaz vs. Daley and UFC 129) are you most anticipating? MMATorch staff and contributors share their thoughts

Of the two major fight cards remaining this month (Diaz vs. Daley and UFC 129), which fight are you most anticipating and why?


RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

I'm not overly interested in UFC 129, to tell the truth. Lots of names, lots of mismatches. I'm a Jake Shields mark, but I know he's got little chance. Couture's going to get picked apart by Machida. The most competitive fight of the three big fights should be Aldo vs. Hominick, because Hominick is the only underdog of the three to have a literal "puncher's chance." My two favorite fights on the card are Bocek vs. Henderson, and Diaz vs. MacDonald. It's awesome that there are two title fights and a big gate, but the quality of the card itself is misleading because of the big names and the multiple title shots.

Now, the Strikeforce card is the most intriguing card Strikeforce has ever put together. I love everything about the card, other than the fact that Takaya's fight won't be on the tellie (that's for Mr. Park). Aoki vs. Beerbohm is probably a mismatch, but I want to see every Aoki fight. It's also interesting to me to see him fight in a cage against someone who isn't at the level of Gil Melendez. Mousasi vs. Jardine is a fantastic fight, especially on short notice. Mousasi is fighting for a title shot (presumably), and Jardine is fighting for his career. And the two title fights will be more competitive than either of UFC 129's title fights.

Gilbert Melendez will be fighting for the first time in 51 weeks. his opponent, Tatsuya Kawajiri, is the best lightweight in the world that Melendez can fight right now (Alvarez is tied to Bellator. Aoki, well, we don't need to see THAT again...). Kawajiri is still close enough to his prime to be a legitimate opponent. And the half step he may or may not have lost will be mitigated by the opportunity to avenge his loss to Melendez at Pride Shockwave 2006. Crusher won't get shredded like Aoki did.

And then the main event... Damn (tm Ron Simmons). Nick Diaz hasn't fought anybody even close to Paul Daley's level since he No Contested Takanori Gomi four years ago (hard to believe it's been 4 years, aint it?) Not to go all wiki on you, but check out the list of has-beens and never-weres that Diaz has fought since the Gomi fight:

* Mike Aina
* K.J. Noons
* Katsuya Inoue (not Enson...)
* Mushin Corbbrey
* Thomas Denny
* Frank Shamrock (not in 1999)
* Scott Smith
* Marius Zaromskis
* Hayato Sakurai (not in 2005)
* Cyborg Santos

OK, so I went all Wiki on you after all. But I had to, because there's no way in hell you can instantly recall that entire list of guys. We finally get the answer to the question we all want to know; Just how good is Nick Diaz? He is the most unique fighter (stylistically) in the world, and is easily one of the fiv