Nicholas Robert Diaz (born August 2, 1983) is an American professional mixed martial arts fighter. He is a former WEC and IFC Welterweight champion. He has also competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Pride Fighting Championships and currently fights in elitexc.com' target=_blank>Elite Xtreme Combat. Diaz was promoted to black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by Cesar Gracie on May 8, 2007.
Biography
Diaz was born in Stockton, California and went to Tokay High School in Lodi for one year before dropping out. While a freshman, he was a member of the swimming team. Diaz has stated in the past that he is thankful his mother got him into swimming classes because swimming is one of the main reasons why his cardio is so impressive during his fights. Diaz has also said on multiple occasions that he had a hard childhood and grew up without his biological father.
Diaz originally started training in martial arts because he was being bullied by other teenagers who were bigger in size than he was. He then watched the UFC for the first time and soon wanted to be able to fight in the organization. He has a younger brother named Nathan, who is also a professional MMA fighter and the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 5. Nick also regularly competes in triathlons as part of his training.
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
After years of practicing various combats sports and martial arts, Diaz became a professional mixed martial arts fighter in 2001 just after his 18th birthday and won his first fight, submitting Mike Wick with a triangle choke at IFC Warriors Challenge 15. Diaz would become a champion in just his second professional fight, decisioning Chris Lytle for the IFC United States Welterweight title in July 2002 at IFC Warriors Challenge 17.
Diaz was then invited to participate in Ultimate Athlete's King of the Mountain, a single-night tournament that took place two months later. He won his first two fights but eventually lost in the finals to Jeremy Jackson by TKO. Diaz would fight in Warriors Quest and Shooto against Harris "Hitman" Sarmiento and Kuniyoshi Hironaka respectively before winning the WEC's Welterweight Title in 2003 at WEC 6, submitting Joe Hurley with a kimura.
Diaz returned to defend his IFC Welterweight belt against the man that defeated him one year earlier, Jeremy Jackson at IFC Warriors Challenge 18. This time around it was Diaz who was able to get the win, winning by TKO in the first round. Taking notice of his success, the UFC signed Diaz over the summer and he made his debut at UFC 44, completing the trilogy against Jeremy Jackson and submitting him with an armbar in the last round of the fight.
Becoming a star
Diaz returned to the Octagon at UFC 47, set to take on highly-touted Welterweight Robbie Lawler. Lawler was a heavy favorite coming into the fight but it was Diaz who took the offensive, chasing Lawler around the cage for the majority of the bout. It was in the second round where Diaz taunted Lawler in an attempt to get him to come after him. The move worked as Lawler swung wildly at him and missed, allowing Diaz to connect with a right hook that knocked out Lawler.
Diaz was then matched up with Karo Parisyan at UFC 49, but ended up losing a hard-fought split decision. He rebounded with wins over Drew Fickett at UFC 51 and Koji Oishi at UFC 53 before losing for the second time in the UFC at the hands of The Ultimate Fighter Middleweight winner Diego Sanchez at The Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale.
The two came into the fight with a good amount of bad blood between them. They reportedly exchanged heated e-mails before and after the official signing of the fight, which was spurred on by Diaz's public opinion that Sanchez and the rest of The Ultimate Fighter participants were being given an easier path to the top compared to the rest of the fighters in the UFC.
Things went to another level in the locker room before the fight when Diaz taunted Sanchez and threw a shoe at him. Diaz was obviously confident coming into the bout but was unable to achieve success in the match, ultimately losing to Sanchez by unanimous decision. During the televised post-fight interview in the ring, Diaz continued the controversy by declaring that he respected Sanchez fighting ability but did not think he deserved to be there, despite Sanchez's win.
Fighting inside and outside the octagon
Diaz's next fight was against Joe Riggs at UFC 57. Similar to his treatment of Sanchez, Diaz made sure that he taunted his opponent plenty before their fight starting at the official press conference at the event in which Diaz confronted Riggs and the two exchanged words. They continued their conversation at the official weigh-ins in which both fighters had to be separated by UFC president Dana White and other officials present.
Riggs prevailed in a hard-fought battle, winning by unanimous decision and giving Diaz his second straight loss. After the fight, the two were taken to the hospital for observation and post-fight tests. It was there that Diaz confronted Riggs and proceeded to punch him in the face, knocking Riggs to his knees. Riggs proceeded to tackle Diaz into a wall and started to knee him when the police arrived and quickly rushed in to separate the two. Neither party, including the police, decided to press charges.
Diaz lost his third consecutive match in a unanimous decision to Sean Sherk at UFC 59. The UFC subsequently terminated his contract and released him during the spring of 2006.
Return to the UFC
Diaz returned to his hometown of Stockton and participated in the International Cage Fighting Organization's inaugural event, defeating Ray Steinbess by unanimous decision. Diaz was slated to fight in his hometown again against John Alessio when he received an unexpected call the night before the fight from the UFC asking to fill in for an ill Thiago Alves at UFC 62.
After Alessio pulled out, Diaz took advantage of the opportunity, submitting Josh Neer in the third round. Seemingly back in the UFC, Diaz stopped newcomer Gleison Tibau with strikes in his next fight at UFC 65. However even after the win and the reassurance that the UFC would give him another fight, Diaz decided to sign with the Gracie Fighting Championships and leave the UFC. GFC had Diaz scheduled to fight Thomas Denny in January 2007, but due to poor ticket sales was ultimately cancelled.
Diaz in PRIDE FC
Diaz was signed to a two-fight deal with PRIDE Fighting Championships with the first scheduled to be against current Lightweight champion Takanori Gomi in a non-title fight on February 24 in Las Vegas. PRIDE 33 was Diaz's first fight in the Pride organization and at the weight of 160 lb. While Gomi started the fight strong, once knocking Diaz to the ground, and twice ending up in his guard, the Californian dominated the standup battle with his unorthodox style, picking his opponent apart with quick and accurate jabs and looping punches. At the end of the first round, whether due to poor cardio on Gomi's part, or being dazed from the sheer number of strikes landed on him, the Japanese fighter was clearly stunned, throwing much wilder punches and barely maintaining his defense. The second stanza saw a continuation of this, with Gomi eventually taking the fight to the ground and opening himself up for a Gogoplata submission by Diaz and tapping at 1:46 of the round. This was the second successful Gogoplata attempt in Pride's history (the first performed by Shinya Aoki on Joachim Hansen less than two months earlier at Pride's New Year's event).
On April 10, 2007, the Nevada State Athletic Commission announced that Diaz failed the drug test that was taken shortly before his win over Takanori Gomi, testing positive for marijuana. The NSAC has declared the fight a "No Contest" and has suspended him for 6 months with a fine of 20% of his earnings ($3,000) won from the fight against Gomi. The Commission felt that the result of Diaz's THC test, an enormous 175, was a contributing factor in his performance during the fight. Commission Chairman Dr. Tony Alamo said that while a result of 15 is considered positive, the NSAC has a threshold of 50 for athletes. He also believes they “feel very comfortable that everyone that tests positive in Nevada is truly positive.”
Dr. Alamo went on to say, “Mr. Diaz was 175. This creates a unique situation. I was there at this fight and believe that you were intoxicated and… that it made you numb to the pain. Did it help you win? I think it did.”[2]
The failed test marred what had been Diaz's biggest win to date. With the win struck from the record, the 23-year-old Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu student retains his previous 14-6 record, including a 6-4 mark in the UFC.
Diaz in
EliteXC
Diaz made his debut for EliteXC in Hawaii on September 15, 2007 on Showtime. He won a hard fought split decision over his opponent Mike Aina. MMA Weekly reported that Nick Diaz signed a two year deal with EliteXC, and most recently fought KJ Noons for the vacant 160 pound title. Diaz lost via doctor stoppage due to multiple cuts on his face. A disappointed Diaz left the arena immediately and on his way out he flipped off the doctor from the arena entrance and shoved the camera out of his face. Ironically, he stated in pre-fight interviews that the only way he was going to lose this fight was from a cut above his eye. Recently Diaz and his bother Nate were involved in an altercation with Noons after his victory over Yves Edwards. Witnesses say the Diaz brothers threw bottles and made obscene gestures toward the Noons camp, inciting a brawl in the ring. As they left, the Diaz brothers were seen displaying what appeared to be gang related hand gestures while leaving the Arena.
Diaz in DREAM
Diaz was victorious in DREAM.3, defeating Katsuya Inoue by corner stoppage (TKO) in the first round.[3] Diaz will now fight Hayato "Mach" Sakurai for the newly created DREAM Welterweight Championship.[3]
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
Diaz is currently a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under the famous Cesar Gracie whom he has been training with since he was a teenager. He is accomplished in both gi and no-gi jiu-jitsu. Some of the major titles he has won include the US Purple Belt Open in 2004 and a Pan American Brown Belt Medium Weight Division title in 2005. He also owns a victory over renowned grappler Jorge Patino in competition.
He is known for having a very modified sport BJJ style that suits his MMA career very well. Diaz lists his favorite submission as the kimura. He is widely known for his impressive upsidedown guard which he frequently uses in his fights. Diaz currently teaches jiu-jitsu at Pacific Coast Martial Arts in Stockton, California.
Boxing
Diaz is also a professional boxer and fights in the Super Middleweight weight class. He made his professional debut in April 2005 against Alfonso Rocha at the Radisson Hotel in Sacramento, California. Diaz was victorious, winning by unanimous decision after four rounds. He has not fought since.
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