Nate Diaz is still one of the biggest names currently active in the MMA circuit. The Californian has recorded so far 20 wins out of 32 fights, and he may be facing a big fight very soon.
He featured in just two fights in the past more than four years – losing the last one to Jorge Masvidal, in November 2019. Before this one, he had won a total of 5 by knockout, and 11 by submission.
Probably, one of the most memorable finishes of his entire carrier is vs. Conor McGregor in UFC 196, in March 2016, by submission.
There are rumors that will be a new fight between them, on which you can already bet at Unibet, one of the best betting sites, as an Unconfirmed Fight. The 35-year old Diaz is the outsider, with +205 odds, while the 32-year old Irish McGregor has -278 odds.
The two met twice in their careers. The second time was in August 2016, when McGregor won by majority decision, at UFC 202. And now the fight may be on, although the Irish announced his retirement on social media in June this year, as recently Nate Diaz wrote on Twitter that Conor McGregor was “play fighting” Dustin Poirier.
McGregor is not the only one who is rumored to fight Diaz sometime in the following months. Khamzat Chimaev issued a challenge to Nate Diaz, earlier this month, for a December fight. The two have never met before.
But which are the best and most amazing finishes of Nate Diaz? Here is a list of them:
UFC 196, vs. Conor McGregor
Maybe the most amazing finish is the fight won against McGregor. The submission came in the second round, a really dramatic rear-naked choke. Diaz was dropped a few times in the fight, but took advantage of the fact that McGregor was increasingly tired.
The fight on March 5, 2016 won the Submission of the Year award, and had a pay-per-view buy rate of over 1.3 million. More intriguing is that Diaz was announced in the fight just 11 days before.
Winning the Ultimate Fighter Season 5, the Finale vs. Manvel Gamburyan
When Diaz was just 22 years old, he won the Ultimate Fighter Seasons 5 Finale, against Manvel Gamburyan, who had a 6-1 record at the time. Not only he won it by submission with shoulder injury, but he did it in just 20 seconds into the second round.
This fight meant that Nate won the Ultimate Fighter 5 Lightweight Tournament.
UFC 141, vs. Donald Cerrone
On December 30th, 2011, Diaz met Donald Cerrone at the UFC 141, in Las Vegas. He won by a unanimous decision, but the fight was an epic one.
At that moment, Cerrone came after six straight wins in the past 14 months, and he had a 17-3 record. That made him an elite opponent for Diaz, who did one of the great fights of his life.
UFC on Fox 3, vs. Jim Miller
After Cerrone, Diaz took on Jim Miller, at the UFC on Fox 3, in New Jersey, on May 5th, 2012. Nate won by guillotine choke submission, although his opponent had a 21-3 record until that moment, in less than 7 years. That was Miller’s first defeat other than through decision, and also a statement that Diaz was on his way to greatness, reaching something no one did before.
UFC 135, vs. Takanori Gomi
Before Cerrone and Miller, it was Takanori Gomi. That UFC 135 win marked the beginning of a fantastic three-fight success for Diaz. He defeated Gomi by armbar submission, and marked his return to winning.
Nate dominated the fight in Denver, almost having him in a guillotine, and then locking Gomi up in a triangle, before the armbar submission.