Nate Diaz fans hang their hat on his final flurry against Leon Edwards at UFC 263, and Georges St-Pierre’s coach Firas Zahabi thinks they have a point.
Firas Zahabi, best known for coaching Georges St-Pierre to multiple world titles, thinks Nate Diaz would be in a class of his own in no time limit fights.
Diaz roared back to life at UFC 263 in round five of what was a lopsided fight favoring Leon Edwards up to that point. Despite not getting the finish, and losing four rounds-to-one, the Stockton came closest to finishing the fight. Diaz is often lauded for his next-level conditioning and Zahabi thinks he could put that to good use in a fight with no time limits.
“If you put [Nate Diaz] in a fight where there is no time limit, I think he beats 99 percent of fighters,” Zahabi said during a recent Q&A on the Tristar Gym YouTube channel (h/t MMA Junkie). “You can’t sub him. You can’t finish him. The guy doesn’t stop walking forward. He puts volume on you. He is the scariest, in my opinion, street fighter in MMA.
“I think if you had to fight him in the street, man, you are in a fight for your life. Ain’t going to be no judges standing you up between rounds. There’s no judge to come and give you the win. No, no. This guy ain’t going away. I think if he had a no time limit fight with Leon Edwards, he beats Leon Edwards – and I have tremendous admiration for Leon Edwards.”
Firas Zahabi thinks that without time limits Nate Diaz would finish 99% of fighters
Do you think he is right? pic.twitter.com/mf2zmHfp46
— RT Sport (@RTSportNews) June 25, 2021
Diaz (20-13) is coming off consecutive losses to Edwards and Jorge Masvidal; however, his pro record includes wins over Conor McGregor, Anthony Pettis, Michael Johnson, Gray Maynard, Jim Miller, Donald Cerrone and Takanori Gomi.