At UFC 118, Nate Diaz continued his ascent to elite status with a demolition of tough veteran Marcus Davis. For three rounds, he out-boxed the ex-boxer, exploiting a sizeable reach advantage to perfection.
At times it was hard to watch, as Davis’ face grew disfigured from the constant, peppering blows that have come to typify Diaz’ style. When the bout reached the canvas late in the third, Davis was on borrowed time.
Under the tutelage of Caesar Gracie, Diaz has developed some of the slickest submissions in MMA. Davis was quickly rendered unconscious by a guillotine choke, and Diaz collected an unprecedented sixth win bonus (four ‘Fight of the Night’ honours, and two ‘Submission of the Night’ nods).
“I’d like to fight someone in the top three, either at lightweight or welterweight,†said Diaz afterwards. “I want to try and get a belt here sometime.†A title shot surely looms somewhere on Diaz’ horizon and at 25-years-old, time is on his side.
If anything derails Diaz’ momentum, it’s likely to be his own temperament.
If anything derails Diaz’ momentum, it’s likely to be his own temperament. The Stockton, Californian is given to wild, often controversial behaviour. His stint as a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter season five revealed a willingness to fight both inside and outside the Octagon.
Diaz also polarises fans with cocky antics, often taunting his opponents mercilessly. On multiple occasions (most notably against Kurt Pellegrino and Melvin Guillard), he has arrogantly played to the crowd while awaiting his opponent’s tap from an inescapable submission.
For fans of Nate, arguably what excites most is that he has an older brother who is stylistically identical, but better. Nick Diaz (himself only 27-years-old), the current Strikeforce welterweight champion, is one of the most exciting fighters in the world.
With rangy, peppering boxing that overwhelms opponents underpinned by scintillating submissions, Nick has lost only once since 2006 and finished 10 of his last 11 opponents. So why isn’t he fighting in the UFC?
“I like Nick Diaz very much, but he refuses to play the game,†says UFC president Dana White. “The last time he was in the UFC, he got in a fistfight at the hospital with the guy he’d fought. He should be in the UFC, but that kind of stuff has to stop.â€
Such controversies have plagued Nick’s career. When his fight against arch nemesis KJ Noons (whom he rematches in October) was stopped on cuts in 2007, an enraged Nick had to be escorted from the ring while he flipped off the crowd. The same year, his breathtaking, world-class Gogoplata submission of Takanori Gomi was overturned when he tested positive for Marijuana.
And most recently, Nick was suspended for three months after instigating a live televised brawl at Strikeforce Nashville, during which fighter Jason Miller was seriously assaulted by Diaz and several members of his camp (including Nate, who controversially went unpunished).
The Diaz brothers have all the talent in the world: cardio forever, stellar submissions, confounding boxing, and a brashness that sells. However, one can’t help fearing that they’re permanently teetering on the brink of their next self-destruction.
Alan Murphy
