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For almost 13 years, Nate Diaz has been a mainstay of the UFC, capturing the hearts and imaginations of MMA fans to accumulate a sizable fanbase. At first glance, the Stockton native’s record inside the octagon looks slightly shaky (13-10), but do not be fooled; this American southpaw is a world-beater.
Fighters often pay the price for underestimating him - just ask Conor McGregor. Diaz showed the world that ‘The Notorious’ is human after all, when he submitted the Irishman with a rear-naked choke at UFC 196 in 2016. A highly contested five-round rematch saw McGregor victorious via a majority decision at UFC 202, but Diaz has shown the world his elite MMA pedigree in two matches.
Strangely, we wouldn’t see Diaz fight inside the octagon for another three years, but this was possibly due to a lack of financial motivation; he had earned a small fortune in the McGregor rematch. The Stockton native had an impressive win over Anthony Pettis at UFC 241, a disappointing loss to Jorge Masvidal via doctor stoppage at UFC 244, and has since been inactive for over 18 months.
With such sporadic octagon appearances, it is difficult to predict how he will perform against Leon Edwards at UFC 263 this Saturday.
On that note, we're looking at three of the worst stylistic matches in the UFC for Nate Diaz.
#3 Colby Covington vs Nate Diaz
Although his title reign was brief, Colby Covington defeated Rafael dos Anjos to win the interim UFC welterweight championship in 2018. Less than four years ago, dos Anjos had comfortably beaten a certain Stockton vegan via unanimous decision.
Covington racked up a seven-fight win-streak in the UFC before his loss against ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Kamaru Usman at UFC 245 in 2019. Although ‘Chaos’ was eventually finished in the fifth round by Usman, he has arguably been the Nigerian’s toughest test to date. This is possibly due to Covington’s incredible wrestling pedigree, which is sure to test Diaz on the ground, making 'Chaos' a bad stylistic matchup for 'The Stockton Slugger.'
#2 Gilbert Burns vs Nate Diaz
One of the most active fighters in the UFC, Gilbert ‘Durinho’ Burns has fought six times in the last two years. The Brazilian was on a six-fight win-streak until his last encounter, in which he suffered a similar fate to many of his welterweight counterparts - crushed by Kamaru Usman.
While both Diaz and Burns possess a 2nd-degree black belt in Jiu-Jitsu, ‘Durinho’ is a multiple world champion in many forms of the martial art.
Now facing Stephen Thompson at UFC 264 next month, you feel that a victory against ‘Wonderboy’ would show how Burns’ activity is one of his strongest characteristics - something Nate Diaz would struggle to compete against.
#1 Kamaru Usman vs Nate Diaz
Is there any UFC fighter out there that can stop ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Kamaru Usman? Not so far, anyway. Usman is on a groundbreaking 14-fight win-streak. The current UFC welterweight champion has already defended his title four times, the last of which ended with the stunning knockout of Jorge Masvidal, something ‘Gamebred’ had not experienced before in his long MMA career.
Finishing three of his last four fights via stoppage, Usman has recently proven he has dynamite power. Add this to his world-class grappling foundation, and you have a current contender for the greatest MMA fighter of all time.
Nate Diaz has only been knocked out once in his MMA career (way back in 2013 to Josh Thomson), but it would be hard to see him last the distance against ‘The Nigerian Nightmare.’
