From 209 to 2:09: Nate Diaz and his unlikely journey to being a rowdy MMA Legend
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Nate Diaz bids farewell to the UFC
Nate Diaz has ended his career against a fellow UFC veteran in Tony Ferguson at an event that was designed to take away his star power before he left the UFC. However, the MMA Gods seemingly could not let the UFC get away with leeching off the name of another veteran and decided to step in.
At the weigh-in, Khamzat Chimaev, who was supposed to be the star of the event and have an easy big-name victory against Nate Diaz, missed weight by almost 8 lbs, causing the entire event to be at the risk of falling apart. However, some last-minute reshuffling and the fighters’ game attitude to keep the event intact proved to be an unexpected boon for Diaz.
While Chimaev was demoted to a co-main event spot, Ferguson was bumped up and got to be the main event for the evening. Just another way of the MMA Gods delivering a big F-You to the UFC , Diaz ended up on top yet again and this was hardly the first time it ever happen.
In fact the Diaz name and its legacy in combat sports will always be that of an anti-hero, anti-establishment figure. His brother, Nick started this with him being among the very first to take a wager on his talents and leave the UFC for other orgnizations, finding so much success that he would be called back by Dana White and return as a star.
This was personified when Nick Diaz had him penultimate bout in the UFC against Anderson Silva. Silva had tested positive for performance enhancers after the fight, While Diaz tested positive for marijuana. While the fight was revised to be a no-contest, the punishment was unfair and unequal. While both fighter would be suspended, Diaz was threatened witha much longer, 3-year suspension along with a very heft fine.
Nate Diaz retires with all-time record for submissions off his back
Refusing to pay the fine, Diaz chose instead to step out of competition and fight them in court. It is no surprise that the scrawny boy from Stockton, California who followed his brother to the gym every day and eventually found his love for mixed martial arts would be instilled with the very same values. Values of never being talked down on by anybody under any circumstances.
From the very start of his MMA career,Nate Diaz was against everything that held authority. So much so that his first MMA fight was against a 30-year-old semi-pro, while he was a minor or 17 years. Regardless Diaz won the fight. In the TUF house when he entered the show’s fifth season, many picked on him for being the younger brother of an established fighter, even got on bad terms with Dana White back then itslef and regardless he won that competition.
His whole career has been a series of events where he uses every chance he gets to stick it up to The Man. We saw it when he flipped the double middle finger after securing a triangle on Kurt Pellegrino, we saw it when he was caught up in a knee lock by Benson Henderson and still took the time to flip him off. We saw that when he came back after a year-long lay-off and put up a boxing clinic on Michael Jackson, only topped by his profanity-laced, iconic call out of Conor McGregor, something that the executives at FOX were fuming over.
Diaz obviously had the highest moment of his career when he derailed the hype behind MMA’s biggest superstar to date and choked out Conor McGregor in the second round of their first fight. While this skyrocketed his fame, unlike many who need a character to maintain that fame, Diaz was himself and Diaz was the character. Authencity is what made Nate special and he knows it and sticks by it.
Even after the series with Conor, Diaz would have other triumphs like his victory over Pettis, headling the MSG, and also almost finishing the current welterweight champ, Leon Edwards. However, something the UFC wouldn’t be fine with is a superstar walking out of the organization and using his big name to make money elsewhere.
Also Read: Nate Diaz wins the battle of OGs as he submits Tony Ferguson by a deadly Guillotine choke at UFC 279
To avoid such a scenario, Diaz was matched up against Khamzat Chimaev in his final bout, a fight he repeatedly reminded everyone he did not ask for or want. In what was supposed to be the event that sealed Diaz’s coffin, everything fell apart and was put back into place in a way that would end up favoring Nate.
Chimaev missed weight and gave Nate a valid enough reason to not take the fight. Diaz was then matched up against Tony Ferguson for the main event and in hindsight, no other scenario could have been better. Chimaev absolutely demolished Kevin Holland, not giving the texas native as much as a chance to get on his feet. Had it been Diaz, it would have been much more gruesome,
But the event that was supposed to mark the downfall of Diaz ended up doing the astronomical opposite of it. Not only did Nate and Tony have a fun fight, but Nate also managed to end his UFC career with a win over a former interim champion. It was only his first submission win since Conor McGregor and also his first win overall since 2018. What’s even better? The fight was stopped with 2:09 left on the clock, Nate Diaz ended right where he started, from the mean streets of Stockton.
Now as he walks out of the building, Nate Diaz leaves a legacy of rebellion, encouraging other fighters like Francis Ngannou and Leon Edwards to demand for their worth from the UFC. Without being a wordsmith, without being the top of the chain in any particular aspect of fighting, Nate Diaz was able to make many hardcore fans of the sport he so loves.
As he leaves the UFC, from fighting authority to smoking and sharing marijuana at the open workouts we doubt there ever be anyone else that matches the aura of Nate Diaz.
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Jerin Mathew
(713 Articles Published)