Once Nate Diaz’s hand was raised in victory at UFC 141, fans started to wonder if this was finally going to be the fight to propel his career toward a title shot.
Diaz now has 15 fights in the UFC. His record is 10-5 and he has been involved in five “Fight of the Night” bonuses.
Unfortunately for Diaz, he hasn’t come out on top when it matters the most.
Coming off a very impressive performance against Donald Cerrone, Diaz is now poised to fight for the Lightweight Title if he can get past Jim Miller at UFC on FOX 3 on May 5th.
What is the general perception of Diaz’s character?
Most fans who doubt his legitimacy to be a title contender blame it on the way he conducts himself in and around the Octagon.
In fact, if we were able to think about Diaz without taking into account the baggage that surrounds the attitudes of he and his brother, we would see a man who has improved tremendously since he first stepped into the Octagon in 2007.
Diaz has always been known as a submission specialist, and now he is showing us how good of a striker he can be.
In his last fight against Cerrone he broke a CompuStrike record by landing 82% of his strikes. Couple the improved striking with a great ground game and you have framework of a fighter who can compete for the title.
Each time it appears Diaz is on the cusp of a title shot, he falters. Maybe it’s because he amps himself up a bit too much, becomes careless or just maybe it is because he is never going to be an elite UFC fighter.
If you would have asked me if Diaz would ever be a serious contender after his fight against Rory MacDonald at UFC 129, I would have said “not a chance” without any hesitation.
However, a return to the lightweight division combined with his newfound love (and success) of the stand up game has put me on the Nate Diaz bandwagon.
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