Former UFC welterweight, Dan Hardy breaks down Nate Diaz’s path to victory when he takes on feared contender, Khamzat Chimaev.
The main event this weekend will be a pivotal moment in the careers of both men involved when Nate Diaz will attempt to shock the world once again, taking on Chechen Phenom, Khamzat Chimaev.
Chimaev has torn his way through his UFC competition, capping it off with a hard-fought decision win over then No.2 welterweight, Gilbert Burns, in just his fifth UFC bout.
Diaz, now 37, has not had a win to his name since November of 2019, dropping his last two fights. To his credit, they have been at the very highest level, most recently dropping a decision loss to current champion, Leon Edwards.
Chimaev opened as a -1125 favorite and for good reason, but the ever-rugged Diaz is a live dog in this matchup and former title challenger Dan Hardy sees a way that Diaz could get the job done.
Dan Hardy weighs in
Diaz’s pedigree is undeniable and although his record may not seem to be anything special at first glance, his last seven losses have been to either champions or title challengers.
Hardy feels that this high-level fight experience, especially over five rounds, may be a deciding factor in the fight and Diaz may be able to capitalize on Chimaev’s youth.
“I’d be very interested to see him over 25 minutes,” Hardy said. “You know, that’s one thing that we’ve not seen. We’ve not seen him pushed. You know, I mean, he’s just running through his opponents,” he said. “Aside from Gilbert Burns, no one’s really pushed him. And when he did meet some adversity, there were moments where he looked a bit sloppy, and he got caught with a big shot. There was a clash of heads, he went down on one knee, and it was quite a dramatic fight. That’s not the person that he was when he was coming into that fight. He was like this dominant and unknown force in the division and I think Gilbert Burns kind of showed us a little bit that he is more human.”
Diaz is known for riling up opponents, slapping and mocking them mid-fight, and Hardy states that Diaz should do more of the same to frustrate Chimaev.
“I think he’s probably gonna have to try and tie him up. I think he’s gonna slap him and box him up and try and frustrate him and get him to lose his cool, and do things that are uncharacteristic, like swing to try and knock him out. I think if you can get your mind playing that game, then he’s going to be fatigued much quicker. And that’s where Nate starts to take over.”
Do you agree with Dan Hardy’s assessment?