Nate Diaz has the support of an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion.
This weekend (Sat., Sept. 10, 2022), UFC 279 acts as Diaz’s ride off into the sunset before enjoying life post-UFC. It won’t come easily, however, as he’ll have to battle undefeated destroyer, Khamzat Chimaev (11-0), to get to that.
When looking at the match up, the mixed martial arts (MMA) community has largely counted out the seasoned veteran, Diaz. Oddsmakers currently have the Stockton, California native as a sizable underdog, but UFC Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, sees this as the perfect opportunity to flourish.
“If Chimaev’s gonna win, I’m gonna say decision,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “If Nate’s gonna win — I think Nate’s gonna win, he’s gonna finish him later on. It’d be hard to say decision, but I think Chimaev’s going to gas and around the third, fourth, fifth. Third or fourth and Nate just takes over and just TKO’s or submits him. He’s shocked the world before. Conor McGregor, no one expected him to win. Even back then I didn’t expect him to win. Conor was on fire.”
Diaz’s biggest win and the highlight of his career is undoubtedly his March 2016 rear-naked choke submission of McGregor. Against Chimaev, Diaz will certainly hope to replicate a similar performance to hand “Borz” that first loss that’s eluded him in his career thus far.
“There’s just so many iconic moments even before the Conor McGregor moment,” Adesanya said. “There’s so many iconic ones. Kurt Pellegrino triangle. F—king flex, flip the bird. Takanori Gomi, the way he beat him. I think his boxing in that fight just … he always had a wide stance as well. Maybe just to bring himself down to those guys’ level. The way he boxed him up and then guillotined him. That second Gray Maynard fight, that may be my favorite Nate Diaz fight.”
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 279 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
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