MMA Legacy 01.25.10: Nick Diaz
Posted by Bill Wannop on 01.25.2010
MMA Legacy is back this week examining the career of the always entertaining Nick Diaz! From his impressive fights with Karo Parisyan and Diego Sanchez, to his recent destructions of Frank Shamrock and Scott Smith, join us as we examine the career of one of the most controversial and talented MMA athletes!
Each and every week MMA Legacy shines the spotlight on a MMA legend. The legends may be retired or may be still actively competing. The column will begin with a bio on the selected legend following his career throughout its highs and lows. This week we decided to focus on the other Strikeforce title contender, Nick Diaz! From early days in the UFC to his feud with KJ Noons, leading up to his intriguing matchup with Marcus Zaromskis this weekend!
Nick Diaz was born in Stockton, California on August 2, 1983 (which makes him 26 years old today). While he was attending Tokay High School he joined the swim team, which Diaz attributes to the reason why his cardio is so string. Nick also competes in triathlons as a part of his cardio training for fights. He started learning MMA after being bullied in school and watching the UFC, and continues to train under Cesar Gracie and was awarded his BJJ black belt on May 8, 2007.
In Nick Diaz's first MMA fight, he faced off against Mike Wick at IFC Warriors Challenge 15 defeating Wick by triangle in the first round. He would then earn a decision victory against Chris Lytle before defeating Blaine Tyler and Adam Lynn by TKO due to punches and armbar at UA 4: King of the Mountain in a single night tournament. Diaz would be defeated in the finals however losing to Jeremy Jackson in the first round by TKO due to punches to bring his MMA record to 4-1.
Diaz would bounce back from the loss by defeating Harris Sarmiento by TKO but then losing by split decision to Kuniyoshi Hironaka at Shooto: 2002 Year End Show. Diaz would then enter the WEC and would begin to get quite a following. In his first fight at WEC 6: Return of a Legend Nick Diaz defeated Joe Hurley by kimura to become the first WEC welterweight champion.
After the victory Diaz got some redemption against Jeremy Jackson at IFC WC 18: Big Valley Brawl by defeating the man who defeated him, by TKO in the first round. The UFC quickly signed Diaz with him making his UFC debut at UFC 44: Undisputed coincidently against Jeremy Jackson again. This fight lasted longer than both of their previous meetings combined with Diaz taking until the third round before he was able to gain the submission victory to bring his record to 8-2.
At UFC 47: It's On Diaz would shock a lot of people by staying on his feet and striking against the dangerous Robbie Lawler. The first round was all action with Diaz taunting Lawler on multiple occasions and in the second round Diaz would connect with a beautiful right hand that puts Lawler down and out face first on the mat for the impressive KO. Next up Diaz would face top contender (at the time), Karo Parisyan at UFC 49: Unfinished Business. In what was an impressive grappling matchup, Diaz and Karo exchanged grappling positions multiple times, with no fighter getting the upper hand. It appeared that Diaz had the slight edge on his feet, while Karo could control the takedowns and in the end that gave Parisyan the split decision victory.
Diaz would bounce back with back to back TKO wins over Drew Fickett at UFC 51: Super Saturday and Koji Oishi at UFC 53: Heavy Hitters. After these two victories Diaz faced off with Diego Sanchez. There was a lot of bad blood in this fight, as the two exchanged heated emails before the fight. Diaz felt that Diego had an easier path due to competing on the reality show, the Ultimate Fighter. Before the fight in the locker room Diaz would taunt Diego and even throw a shoe at him. Diego said that all these actions actually helped him as they caused him to train harder than he ever had before. In what was a back and forth fight that went the distance, Diego earned a unanimous decision victory putting Diaz's record to 11-4.
Nick Diaz would have trouble bouncing back from the loss, in his next fight with Joe Riggs at UFC 57: Liddel vs. Couture 3. In another action packed contest Diaz would again lose a unanimous decision. Following the fight both fighters were taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure. They would confront each other and get into a scuffle that would eventually be broken up by police. Diaz would then lose another decision to Sean Sherk at UFC 59: Reality Check, and he would be released from his UFC contract.
That break from the UFC would be short lived however as after a victory over Ray Steinbeiss at ICFO1: Stockton Diaz would be brought back into the UFC at UFC 62: Liddell vs. Sobral to face Josh Neer, as a last second replacement for Thiago Alves. Diaz would go on to submit Neer in the third round by Kimura, before defeating Gleison Tibau by TKO due to strikes at UFC 65: Bad intentions.
In a shocking twist however Diaz decided to leave the UFC and instead fight with Gracie Fighting Championships. However the promotion never held an event and Diaz went to fight with PRIDE at PRIDE 33: Second Coming in Las Vegas, where he faced Takanori Gomi. In what was a fight of the year, Diaz was able to lock Gomi in a gogo-plata in the second round and secure the victory. The fight was constant action, and Diaz just came out swinging, tiring out Gomi. The fight was unfortunately ruled a no-contest due to Diaz testing positive to marijuana.
Following the no-contest and the buyout of PRIDE by the UFC, Diaz signed with Elite XC and made his debut defeating Mike Aina by split decision at Elite XC: Uprising. He would then get a shot at the vacant Elite XC lightweight belt when he faced KJ Noons at Elite XC: Renegade. In the fight Noons was a huge underdog however he seemed to be getting the better of the striking exchange in round one. Noons would knock Diaz down and open up a huge cut on his head. The doctors would check the cut and allow the fight to continue, however Noons would do more damage in the round to the cut, and at the end of the first round the doctors would re-evaluate the cut and the fight would be called giving KJ Noons the victory and the title. Diaz was quite upset at this and went up to the entrance ramp of Elite XC and flipped off it.
Following the unexpected loss Diaz competed at DREAM 3 where he defeated Katsuya Inoue by TKO in round 1. Diaz would then defeat Muhsin Corbbrey by TKO at Elite XC: Return of the King. Later in the evening, after KJ Noons successfully defended the lightweight title a scuffle broke out in that Nick Diaz along with Nate Diaz confronted Noons in the cage that ended in a shoving match and security breaking it up.
The rematch with Noons would never materialize and Diaz would face Thomas Denny at Elite XC: Unfinished Business. Diaz would dispose of Denny by TKO in the second round. With the folding of Elite XC, Diaz would sign with Strikeforce and compete in the highly anticipated matchup with Frank Shamrock at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diazin a 180lbs catchweight bout. The bout was not as close as everyone thought as Diaz simply destroyed Shamrock by utilizing his peppering punching style throwing a whopping 297 punches in only 1 and a half rounds. Mid way through the second Diaz would catch Shamrock with a huge body shot that would put him down and continue to pound on him for the TKO victory.
Nick Diaz's last fight took place at Strikeforce: Shields vs. Lawler when he faced off against fellow striker Scott Smith. In the fight Diaz again utilized his peppering punches and completely punished Smith for three rounds, before finally sinking in the rear naked choke for the victory.
Diaz's next fight is for the Strikeforce Welterweight title when he faces off against Marcus Zaromskis at Strikeforce: Miami. This is a tough test for Diaz as Zaromskis is a truly explosive striker, one of which Diaz has never faced yet. While Diaz will have the definite advantage on the ground, he may choose to stand and bang with Zaromskis if his ego gets the better of him, which would be a huge mistake. Although Diaz has never being knocked out in a fight, and all his loses in the major organizations have been by way of decision there is a first time for everything. If Diaz tries to stand and pepper Marcus with punches I see him getting knocked out. If he takes the fight to the ground, I see him getting an easy submission.
Nick Diaz is truly becoming a legend in MMA. His striking and ground game mixed with his taunts of his opponents and showboating make him someone you either love or hate. Whether you love or hate Nick Diaz, you have to respect his abilities, and in the last year Diaz has truly been turning it on, destroying some top names in Frank Shamrock and Scott Smith. If Diaz is victorious over Zaromskis hopefully we will finally be able to see the rematch with KJ Noons!
That does it for this week. Enjoy Strikeforce: Miami!
Each and every week MMA Legacy shines the spotlight on a MMA legend. The legends may be retired or may be still actively competing. The column will begin with a bio on the selected legend following his career throughout its highs and lows. This week we decided to focus on the other Strikeforce title contender, Nick Diaz! From early days in the UFC to his feud with KJ Noons, leading up to his intriguing matchup with Marcus Zaromskis this weekend!
Diaz would bounce back with back to back TKO wins over Drew Fickett at UFC 51: Super Saturday and Koji Oishi at UFC 53: Heavy Hitters. After these two victories Diaz faced off with Diego Sanchez. There was a lot of bad blood in this fight, as the two exchanged heated emails before the fight. Diaz felt that Diego had an easier path due to competing on the reality show, the Ultimate Fighter. Before the fight in the locker room Diaz would taunt Diego and even throw a shoe at him. Diego said that all these actions actually helped him as they caused him to train harder than he ever had before. In what was a back and forth fight that went the distance, Diego earned a unanimous decision victory putting Diaz's record to 11-4.
