After respective wins over Donald Cerrone and Melvin Guillard, Nate Diaz and Jim Miller have separated themselves as two of the top contenders in the ultra-competitive lightweight division. As such, the two entertaining 155-pound fighters will meet in …
After respective wins over Donald Cerrone and Melvin Guillard, Nate Diaz and Jim Miller have separated themselves as two of the top contenders in the ultra-competitive lightweight division. As such, the two entertaining 155-pound fighters will meet in the main event of UFC on Fox 3 with a title shot potentially on the line.
Only one year removed from an unsuccessful run in the welterweight division, Diaz has returned to his ideal weight division and appears primed to make a run at the belt. Meanwhile, Miller is one fight removed from a hard-fought loss against now-champion Benson Henderson.
Let’s take a look at which fighter has a better chance at taking one step closer to a lightweight title fight.
What makes a fighter? Is it nature? Nurture? Or a combination of both? No one knows for sure, and sibling fighters only confuse the issue further. In MMA’s 19-year history, there have been 20 sets of siblings that have competed at the highest levels&md…
What makes a fighter? Is it nature? Nurture? Or a combination of both? No one knows for sure, and sibling fighters only confuse the issue further.
In MMA‘s 19-year history, there have been 20 sets of siblings that have competed at the highest levels—in the UFC, Pride, Strikeforce or all three.
Sometimes both brothers have had significant success. Sometimes, one has stood out, and the other comes along for the ride.
Some familiar names grace this list. From the Hughes to the Gracies, from the Nogueiras to the Serras, MMA’s most famous families are all included.
Which brothers stand out from all the others as the top family affair in MMA?
Josh Koscheck’s future as a welterweight looked bleak after his second defeat at the hands of champion Georges St-Pierre. Another shot at the welterweight crown was an impossibility as long as GSP ruled the division and Kos had all but packed his…
Josh Koscheck’s future as a welterweight looked bleak after his second defeat at the hands of champion Georges St-Pierre. Another shot at the welterweight crown was an impossibility as long as GSP ruled the division and Kos had all but packed his bags for the middleweight division.
But with a fight against rising star Johny Hendricks to look forward to, the fighter has renewed optimism in the division.
“Right now, there’s a lot of good young fighters in the welterweight division that definitely intrigue me,” Koscheck said in an interview with MMA Junkie. “And obviously, there’s two champions at this division.”
One of the champions he’s talking about is Carlos Condit. His victory over Nick Diaz, which won him the interim welterweight title, has added a new complexion to the division. With GSP still nursing a career-threatening injury, there’s every chance that Kos could get a shot at the championship once more.
But certain stars will have to align in the right way for that to happen. First, Kos has to beat Hendricks, whom he’ll face on May 5 at UFC on FOX 3. Hendricks is coming off a knockout win against perennial number two contender Jon Fitch, a victory which catapulted him from an average welterweight to a serious title challenger.
It also put Fitch out of a title chase, himself a long-time friend and training partner of Koscheck. Fitch’s loss means that should Kos defeat Hendricks, he could reasonably claim to be the number two challenger to Condit’s crown.
But then for Kos to have a shot at Condit, Condit will have to defeat GSP in their long-awaited matchup expected later in the year.
And that means Kos will be playing a waiting game, hoping things out of his control will work in his favour, giving him a chance at cementing his legacy in the welterweight division.
Surely that would serve him better than attempting to move up a division at this stage in his career. At 35, it is hard to see him prevailing against fighters such as Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, Mark Munoz, Brian Stann and Anderson Silva.
No, Koscheck is best served in staying at welterweight, and with talents such as a Nick Diaz (currently suspended) and Rory MacDonald shaking up the division, there are still big paydays left as he sees out his last few years in MMA. The launch pad for that would be a victory against Hendricks in New Jersey.
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Nate Diaz will have a great deal on the line when he faces Jim Miller on Saturday, May 5 in the main event of UFC on Fox 3. Diaz believes a victory over Miller will put him in line for a shot at the UFC lightweight title. A win will also allow him to m…
Nate Diaz will have a great deal on the line when he faces Jim Miller on Saturday, May 5 in the main event of UFC on Fox 3. Diaz believes a victory over Miller will put him in line for a shot at the UFC lightweight title. A win will also allow him to move out from under the shadow cast by his older brother Nick and the other fighters he trains with as a member of the Cesar Gracie jiu-jitsu team.
There’s no doubt that the younger Diaz is proud to be part of the Cesar Gracie squad, but he lacks something that other members of the team posses or have possessed, championship gold. His brother Nick has worn championship belts in the WEC and Strikeforce, Jake Shields has been a champion in Shooto, EliteXC and Strikeforce while Gilbert Melendez was a WEC champion before capturing the Strikeforce lightweight title, a belt that he currently holds.
Diaz has had a chance at a title in the past, failing in his attempt to wrest the WEC lightweight title from Hermes Franca at WEC 24. Following that loss Diaz received the call to appear on the fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter.
Diaz, fighting under coach Jens Pulver would defeat Rob Emerson, Corey Hill and Gray Maynard before meeting Manny Gamburyan in the season finale. Diaz would be awarded the UFC contract after a shoulder injury forced Gamburyan to tap out just 20 seconds into the second round. The victory may have been somewhat hollow, but it provided Diaz entry into the UFC.
Once on the UFC roster Diaz would not look back. Sure there were some close calls, as he lost two in a row twice during that run, but all in all he has fared fairly well, compiling a record of 9-5 since the victory over Gamburyan.
Diaz is currently on a two-fight winning streak, earning Fight Night bonuses in each of those victories. His last bout took place at UFC 141 where he met Donald Cerrone. Cerrone came into the fight with all the momentum in the world, winning four fights during 2011 and looking to earn a shot at the UFC lightweight title. It did not take Diaz long to halt Cerrone’s momentum.
When the fight began there was no touch of the gloves between the two fighters, but Cerrone did offer Diaz a single-finger salute as the fighters went back to their respective corners.
Diaz dominated Cerrone over the course of the first two rounds, never allowing Cerrone to establish himself in any form. When the third round began, Diaz let Cerrone know that he had not forgotten the middle finger that he had thrown his direction during the fight instructions, upping the ante and delivering a double “Stockton Heybuddy” right back at Cerrone. Cerrone, bloodied and breathing through an open mouth, offered nothing in return.
When the fight concluded and the scorecards gave the unanimous decision to Diaz, it came as no surprise to anyone in the arena or watching the event on pay-per-view.
That brings us to today, less than one week from what may be the biggest fight of Nate Diaz’s career. A victory over Miller should put his name in the mix for a shot at the winner of the upcoming UFC lightweight title shot between current champion Benson Henderson and former champion Frankie Edgar. It would also show the world what his Gracie team members already know, that Nate Diaz, while not possessing the assorted hardware that his teammates posses, is a fighter that stands in the shadow of no man.
UFC on Fox 3 is stacked up to be an exciting event which will determine the title shot standings for several of the rising stars in mixed martial arts today.The outcome of this event will most likely rank Diaz or Miller as next in line for a title shot…
UFC on Fox 3 is stacked up to be an exciting event which will determine the title shot standings for several of the rising stars in mixed martial arts today.
The outcome of this event will most likely rank Diaz or Miller as next in line for a title shot after Henderson and Edgar duke it out one more time for the lightweight championship belt.
May 5 may also solidify Josh Koscheck’s second chance at welterweight gold or give Johny Hendricks his first shot at the title once Condit and St. Pierre unify the welterweight belt at an unknown time.
I’m also looking forward to watching Rousimar Palahares try to enforce his brutal submission game on the Muay Thai talents of Alan Belcher. The winner of this fight could find themselves fighting for the number-one contender’s spot if they can bring home a W after this event.
It is without a doubt the purpose of this card to bring mainstream attention and glory to the next possible champions for the lightweight, welterweight and middleweight division. Here are my predictions about which fighters will be garnering all that fame.
In less than two weeks, the UFC will return to Fox for one of its four major network-televised events of 2012. Though it is headlined by lightweight contenders Nate Diaz and Jim Miller, rising middleweights Rousimar Palhares and Alan Belcher will try t…
In less than two weeks, the UFC will return to Fox for one of its four major network-televised events of 2012. Though it is headlined by lightweight contenders Nate Diaz and Jim Miller, rising middleweights Rousimar Palhares and Alan Belcher will try to steal the show with a fight that is very important in determining the ordering of title hopefuls in the 185-pound division.
While there are others probably more deserving of a title shot right now, a spectacular win at UFC on Fox 3 could move Palhares or Belcher to the front of the line for a matchup against the winner of an upcoming middleweight title fight between champion Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen.
Before Palhares and Belcher shake up the division with their fight in early May, let’s take a look at how the UFC’s 185-pound fighters stack up from top to bottom.
The following rankings are computed based primarily on results against similar competition and do not include fighters who have not yet competed inside the Octagon, announced their retirement, been suspended, gone more than one year without competing or scheduled a fight in a new division.
Josh Koscheck’s future as a welterweight looked bleak after his second defeat at the hands of champion Georges St-Pierre. Another shot at the welterweight crown was an impossibility as long as GSP ruled the division and Kos had all but packed his bags for the middleweight division.