UFC 137 Preview - Nick Diaz

We can all breathe a sigh of relief. Nick Diaz has passed his pre-fight medical screening. No marijuana this time folks.
The California native, Diaz, had a decision overturned against Takanori Gomi in early 2007 because he tested positive for marijuana after the fight. It was a fight in which he again was able to use his fantastic jiu-jitsu to win. He caught Gomi in a gogoplata with 3:14 remaining in the second round, to solidify himself as a force in Pride Fighting Championships. It was only the second gogoplata ever in Pride, the first having been done by Shinya Aoki just two months prior.
NSAC officials went on to test Diaz’s THC levels and they found him to be at 175, 125 over the limit allowed for athletes. A level of 175 during the fight indicates that he was intoxicated and clearly under the influence of the drug during the fight. Commission Chairman Dr. Tony Alamo said that he felt the drug made Diaz numb to the pain of a large cut that had been opened under his eye early in the fight.
The Gomi fight being his last with Pride, he didn’t have many places to turn due to the penalties imposed on him by the NSAC. He was suspended for six months and forced to turn over 20 percent of his earnings from the fight. The fight was also declared a no contest.
With his options running thin, Diaz turned to now-defunct promotion EliteXC. In his first of four fights under the EliteXC banner, Diaz took a split decision over Mike Aina. In his next fight, he took on K.J Noons for the vacant 160-pound title. Diaz was dropped early by Noons, and from then on opted to go in for the takedown. In doing so, he was stuffed multiple times, one time in particular left a massive gash on his forehead. The fight was called to a halt by the cage side doctor due to various cuts on Diaz’s forehead.
Diaz bounced all over, fighting for Japan’s Dream, and finishing up his deal with EliteXC before finding his home in Strikeforce. His first fight for the promotion was against MMA legend Frank Shamrock at a catchweight of 179 pounds. Diaz, aware of a nagging rib injury that Shamrock had sustained during training, attacked his body relentlessly. He eventually finished Shamrock with a body shot that sent him sprawling and followed up with strikes on the ground.
After his victory over Shamrock, Diaz’s next two fights were in Strikeforce, and after a bout in Dream in 2010, he fought solely for the promotion in 2011. He claimed the vacant Strikeforce Welterweight Title at Strikeforce: Miami with a win over newcomer, MariusŽaromskis.Žaromskis has oftentimes been compared to Mirko Cro Cop because of his striking prowess, specifically with head kicks. Another commonality between the two is their takedown defense, which is among the best in MMA. Because of this, Diaz opted to stand and strike, with the takedown in his back pocket. He scored an early one after a few knees in the clinch, but his submission attempts were quickly shrugged off. Žaromskis floored Diaz with a left, and Diaz was punished on the ground. Once he recovered, he came back aggressive, and effectively landed many combinations, forcing the referee to step in with under a minute left.
With his new Strikeforce belt, Diaz was the king of the division, and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker made sure Diaz got the one fighter he had wanted since his loss in EliteXC, K.J. Noons. Diaz was offered a rematch with Noons while still in EliteXC, and promptly accepted, but Noons declined the offer, stating that he felt Diaz wasn’t the number one contender. In the rematch, Diaz went on to win a five-round decision.
His next two title defenses were against Cyborg Santos, and Paul Daley respectively. Diaz handled the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, Santos, showing off his own impressive ground game, ending the fight via armbar with less than ten seconds remaining in the second round. It marked the first time anyone had ever finished the Brazilian, Santos by submission.
The fight with Daley was a wild one, featuring two unorthodox strikers. The fight opened with a lot of aggressive striking from both fighters, and ended that way too. With just three seconds left in the first round, the fight was called, with Diaz the victor. The fight saw Diaz get stumbled early on, but he recovered quickly, and baited Daley into aggressively exchanging, a decision that was also his undoing.
After the UFC’s parent company, Zuffa LLC. bought the rights to Strikeforce in March of 2011, many felt a matchup of UFC Welterweight Champion, Georges St-Pierre and Diaz was immanent. The match finally came to fruition and was booked for UFC 137, but was eventually scrapped because Diaz failed to attend the mandatory press conferences. He was demoted to the second slot on the same card, and matched up against lightweight and welterweight ace, B.J. Penn. After St-Pierre was forced to pull out of his title bout due to a knee injury, Diaz versus Penn was upgraded to the main event.
The fight, featuring possibly the two best jiu-jitsu fighters the UFC has ever known, should be an interesting one. Given that both are so experienced and well versed in the ground game, both may try and avoid it. Diaz has developed more of a striker-first mentality since his stint with the UFC in 2003 that saw his ground game suffocated under more powerful wrestlers. Diaz will keep his takedowns in check, and be ready when the opportunity presents itself, much as he did in the Žaromskis fight.
Penn doesn’t provide as much a striking threat as Žaromskis by any means, but with his 21-second knockout of future UFC Hall-of-Famer, Matt Hughes, his hands aren’t to be underestimated. Diaz has a rather wild-striking style, as seen in his fight with Paul Daley. His aggressiveness got him into a lot of trouble in that fight, but he was able to recover quickly. He had better hope he can control his aggression in his fight with Penn, because the experienced veteran will not allow him to recover. Penn will move forward and pick his shots carefully, mixing in a takedown to add some additional strikes, en route to a unanimous nod over Diaz.