If Nick Diaz‘s fight with Carlos Condit is his last, he’ll be remembered as one of the rarest mixed martial artists of all time.
Diaz will most likely be remembered as a controversial fighter outside the ring, but he should be remembered for his entertaining fights in Pride, Strikeforce, Dream and the UFC.
Fans of MMA that despise Diaz will point to him recently failing a drug test in his fight against Condit, failing another marijuana test in his fight against Takanori Gomi at Pride 33, his hospital fight with Joe Riggs or his melee with K.J. Noons.
And while those are all negative points in Diaz’s career, no one can ever deny that Diaz is one of the most exciting fighters in the history of the sport.
Diaz had a style where he constantly stalked his opponents and made them engage with him, or he would taunt and verbally abuse them. This fighting style produced some amazing fights.
His wars with Diego Sanchez, Robbie Lawler, K.J. Noons, Marius Zaromskis, Evangelista Cyborg, B.J. Penn, Gomi and Paul Daley were unbelievably exciting and if you’re a fan of MMA and haven’t seen them, do yourself a favor and look them up.
I mean think about it. Can you imagine how entertaining a “Best of Nick Diaz DVD” would be? Captivating interviews and all of those fights on one DVD is enough to make any real fan of fighting purchase it.
Perhaps Diaz fans are hoping that fans will remember him as being “as real as it gets,” and remember the great Primetime episodes that revealed him as a person. The shows were so great and the end of the first episode captured Diaz perfectly.
Love him or hate him, we can all admit that Diaz was a fighter that had unlimited cardio, great boxing and an outstanding ground game.
And if his days in MMA are done, the UFC will be losing out on one of the most entertainingly controversial figures to ever grace the Octagon.
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