Nate Diaz - biography, information, personal life. Nate Diaz - biography, information, personal life Nate Diaz's weight category

A country: USA

Nathan Donald Diaz

American lightweight MMA fighter, signed to the UFC. Winner of The Ultimate Fighter 5, Diaz is the younger brother of Nick Diaz, a former Strikeforce and WEC welterweight champion. Before signing a contract with the UFC, Nate Diaz competed in World Extreme Cagefighting, Strikeforce and Pancrase tournaments.

Youth

Born and raised in Stockton, California. He attended Tokay High School and at 14 began training in mixed martial arts with his brother Nick. The brothers advocate for the legalization of cannabis. Attended a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school in Lodi, California.

Early in his career, Diaz competed primarily under the WEC. In 2006, he participated in a title fight against champion Hermes Frank, losing by submission in the second round.

He took part in the reality show organized by the UFC, The Ultimate Fighter 5, in which lightweights were presented, and fought with Jens Pulver’s team. In the preliminary round, Diaz defeated Rob Emerson by submission, and in the quarter-finals he defeated Corey Hill with a triangle choke in the first round. In the semifinals he defeated Gray Meinarl again by submission, gaining the opportunity to fight Manvel Gamburyan in the final. Diaz gave the first round to his opponent, but in the next round he ended the fight with a submission, as Gamburyan dislocated his right shoulder in a takedown attempt. Thus, Nate Diaz became the winner of the fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter.

After defeating Alvin Robinson and Junior Assuncao by submission, he demanded stronger opponents. Diaz was given a match against Kurt Pelegrino at UFC Fight Night 13. Diaz won the fight via triangle choke in the second round, giving his opponent the first. He showed his middle fingers to the crowd during the submission.

A split decision victory over veteran Josh Neer gave Nate Diaz the opportunity to fight for the lightweight title against Clay Guida, but he lost a split decision in the main event. Guida used his wrestling skills to score numerous takedowns. Diaz tried to counter these moves with judo, but was unsuccessful. In the second round, Diaz began boxing and landed several punches on Guida. After the third round, the judges gave the victory to Guide.

He next fought Ultimate Fighter winner and former Welterweight King of the Cage Joe Stevenson in the season finale. Most of the fight was controlled by Stevenson, who, as an excellent wrestler, took the fight to the ground. The fight lasted three rounds, following which the judges unanimously declared Stevenson the winner.

After two decision losses, Diaz was placed in the main event of UFC Fight Night 19 against Melvin Guillard. Diaz was knocked out with a right hook, but he quickly recovered from the blow and scored two takedowns, but Gillard managed to perform a judo throw Harai-Goshi - Diaz found himself lying on the floor. However, Diaz held on tight, kept his cool, and his punches became more accurate, accurate and effective. He dropped Gillard with a combination of left and right jab, forcing his opponent to retreat all the way to the cage, where he decided to go for a takedown. However, Diaz had previously locked his opponent into a modified guillotine choke, using his right leg to block Gillard's position.

In early 2010, Diaz faced Gray Maynard in the main event of UFC Fight Night 20. The two fighters had previously met on the floor in the semifinals of the TUF 5 tournament, with Diaz winning. In this fight, Diaz secured the victory by a split decision.

After three losses, Diaz moved up to the welterweight division, saying that the lightweight payday did not meet his desires.

He made his debut in the welterweight category in the spring of 2010 against striker Rory Markham, signed under Miletich Fighting Systems. Due to the fact that Markham competed in the middle category, and Diaz - in the welterweight category, the match became fixed. Despite the difference in weight, Diaz won by technical knockout in the first round. After this fight, Diaz announced his desire to fight in both categories.

His next fight was against former boxer Marcus Davis in late summer. Diaz effectively used his reach advantage, landing significant blows on his opponent. He finished the fight with a guillotine choke in the last round.

But soon Diaz was defeated again in a fight with Korean Dong Hyun Kim in the New Year's event. Kim controlled the fight in the first two rounds, carrying out takedowns, Nate took the last round, but it was too late - the judges gave the victory to the Korean.

Diaz fought with Rory MacDonald in the spring of 2011. The athlete could not withstand the pressure of his opponent and missed three powerful blows in the third round, and then found himself on the canvas after a takedown by MacDonald, losing by decision. Diaz noted after the fight that he wanted to return to lightweight.

Defeated former PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori Gomi via armbar in the first round. During the fight, he showed improved boxing skills, as well as good ground fighting technique, skillfully moving from the threat of a triangle choke to an armbar.

Defeated Donald Ceronne by decision, despite the fact that his opponent knocked him down several times with sweeps. Diaz set a CompuStrike record in this fight, landing 82% of his opponent's strikes.

After years of training, Diaz finally received his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 2012. A month later he entered the ring against Jim Miller. During the fight, Diaz dominated the first two rounds, even dropping his opponent with a straight left in the first. At the end of the second round, Miller scored a takedown, which Diaz converted into a guillotine choke. This was Miller's first loss in his career.

At the end of 2012, a month after signing a contract with the UFC, Diaz faced Benson Henderson in the title fight of the UFC Lightweight Championship, but was again found unworthy of the belt by unanimous decision.

Diaz faced former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thompson in the spring of 2013 and lost by TKO after a head kick and a series of punches. His brother Nick Diaz threw a towel into the ring, signaling the referee to end the fight.

After this defeat, Diaz's contract was suspended for 90 days due to homophobic posts on the fighter's Twitter page. The athlete was also fined 20 thousand dollars.

The match with Gray Maynard took place in November 2013 at the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale. Diaz won by technical knockout in the first round.

In May 2014, Nate Diaz and TJ Grant were removed from the UFC lightweight rankings due to inactivity.

Diaz took a year off from fighting and returned to face Rafael Dos Anjos in December. Before the fight, he was unable to cut weight to make the lightweight division limit, even with overtime. He was fined 20% of the fight fee, which went to Anjus. Anjus won the one-sided fight by unanimous decision.

Diaz was supposed to face off against Matt Brown in the summer of 2015, but Brown said in April that the decision to fight between them had been reconsidered. As a result, Diaz was again in hiatus for a year and faced Michael Johnson in December, winning by decision.

In March 2016, as a replacement for the injured Rafael dos Anjos, he fought Conor McGregor, having learned about the fight just 11 days before. Due to the fact that Diaz would not have time to lose weight, the fight took place in the welterweight division. Diaz won in the second round, which turned out to be his ninth victory by submission, the most victories by submission since Royce Grace.

The rematch with McGregor was supposed to take place in July 2016, but three months before the event, McGregor was removed from the card due to his inability to fulfill promises made to the media. However, their meeting still took place the following month. Diaz lost by majority decision, earning $2 million for the fight and another $50,000 bonus for the Fight of the Night award.

Main titles

Lightweight Tournament WinnerThe Ultimate Fighter 5

Received the Fight of the Night award eight times for fights with Josh Neer, Clay Guida, Joe Stevenson, Marcus Davis, Donaldo Cerrone, Michael Johnson, Conor McGregor (twice).

He received the Submission of the Night award five times for fights with Alvin Robinson, Kurt Pellegrino, Melvin Guillard, Takanori Gomi, Jim Miller.

One-time "Knockout of the Night" award for the fight with Gray Maynard.

One-time “Performance of the Night” award for the fight with Conor McGregor.

History of fights

A country: USA

Nathan Donald Diaz

American lightweight MMA fighter, signed to the UFC. Winner of The Ultimate Fighter 5, Diaz is the younger brother of Nick Diaz, a former Strikeforce and WEC welterweight champion. Before signing a contract with the UFC, Nate Diaz competed in World Extreme Cagefighting, Strikeforce and Pancrase tournaments.

Youth

Born and raised in Stockton, California. He attended Tokay High School and at 14 began training in mixed martial arts with his brother Nick. The brothers advocate for the legalization of cannabis. Attended a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school in Lodi, California.

Early in his career, Diaz competed primarily under the WEC. In 2006, he participated in a title fight against champion Hermes Frank, losing by submission in the second round.

He took part in the reality show organized by the UFC, The Ultimate Fighter 5, in which lightweights were presented, and fought with Jens Pulver’s team. In the preliminary round, Diaz defeated Rob Emerson by submission, and in the quarter-finals he defeated Corey Hill with a triangle choke in the first round. In the semifinals he defeated Gray Meinarl again by submission, gaining the opportunity to fight Manvel Gamburyan in the final. Diaz gave the first round to his opponent, but in the next round he ended the fight with a submission, as Gamburyan dislocated his right shoulder in a takedown attempt. Thus, Nate Diaz became the winner of the fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter.

After defeating Alvin Robinson and Junior Assuncao by submission, he demanded stronger opponents. Diaz was given a match against Kurt Pelegrino at UFC Fight Night 13. Diaz won the fight via triangle choke in the second round, giving his opponent the first. He showed his middle fingers to the crowd during the submission.

A split decision victory over veteran Josh Neer gave Nate Diaz the opportunity to fight for the lightweight title against Clay Guida, but he lost a split decision in the main event. Guida used his wrestling skills to score numerous takedowns. Diaz tried to counter these moves with judo, but was unsuccessful. In the second round, Diaz began boxing and landed several punches on Guida. After the third round, the judges gave the victory to Guide.

He next fought Ultimate Fighter winner and former Welterweight King of the Cage Joe Stevenson in the season finale. Most of the fight was controlled by Stevenson, who, as an excellent wrestler, took the fight to the ground. The fight lasted three rounds, following which the judges unanimously declared Stevenson the winner.

After two decision losses, Diaz was placed in the main event of UFC Fight Night 19 against Melvin Guillard. Diaz was knocked out with a right hook, but he quickly recovered from the blow and scored two takedowns, but Gillard managed to perform a judo throw Harai-Goshi - Diaz found himself lying on the floor. However, Diaz held on tight, kept his cool, and his punches became more accurate, accurate and effective. He dropped Gillard with a combination of left and right jab, forcing his opponent to retreat all the way to the cage, where he decided to go for a takedown. However, Diaz had previously locked his opponent into a modified guillotine choke, using his right leg to block Gillard's position.

In early 2010, Diaz faced Gray Maynard in the main event of UFC Fight Night 20. The two fighters had previously met on the floor in the semifinals of the TUF 5 tournament, with Diaz winning. In this fight, Diaz secured the victory by a split decision.

After three losses, Diaz moved up to the welterweight division, saying that the lightweight payday did not meet his desires.

He made his debut in the welterweight category in the spring of 2010 against striker Rory Markham, signed under Miletich Fighting Systems. Due to the fact that Markham competed in the middle category, and Diaz - in the welterweight category, the match became fixed. Despite the difference in weight, Diaz won by technical knockout in the first round. After this fight, Diaz announced his desire to fight in both categories.

His next fight was against former boxer Marcus Davis in late summer. Diaz effectively used his reach advantage, landing significant blows on his opponent. He finished the fight with a guillotine choke in the last round.

But soon Diaz was defeated again in a fight with Korean Dong Hyun Kim in the New Year's event. Kim controlled the fight in the first two rounds, carrying out takedowns, Nate took the last round, but it was too late - the judges gave the victory to the Korean.

Diaz fought with Rory MacDonald in the spring of 2011. The athlete could not withstand the pressure of his opponent and missed three powerful blows in the third round, and then found himself on the canvas after a takedown by MacDonald, losing by decision. Diaz noted after the fight that he wanted to return to lightweight.

Defeated former PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori Gomi via armbar in the first round. During the fight, he showed improved boxing skills, as well as good ground fighting technique, skillfully moving from the threat of a triangle choke to an armbar.

Defeated Donald Ceronne by decision, despite the fact that his opponent knocked him down several times with sweeps. Diaz set a CompuStrike record in this fight, landing 82% of his opponent's strikes.

After years of training, Diaz finally received his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 2012. A month later he entered the ring against Jim Miller. During the fight, Diaz dominated the first two rounds, even dropping his opponent with a straight left in the first. At the end of the second round, Miller scored a takedown, which Diaz converted into a guillotine choke. This was Miller's first loss in his career.

At the end of 2012, a month after signing a contract with the UFC, Diaz faced Benson Henderson in the title fight of the UFC Lightweight Championship, but was again found unworthy of the belt by unanimous decision.

Diaz faced former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thompson in the spring of 2013 and lost by TKO after a head kick and a series of punches. His brother Nick Diaz threw a towel into the ring, signaling the referee to end the fight.

After this defeat, Diaz's contract was suspended for 90 days due to homophobic posts on the fighter's Twitter page. The athlete was also fined 20 thousand dollars.

The match with Gray Maynard took place in November 2013 at the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale. Diaz won by technical knockout in the first round.

In May 2014, Nate Diaz and TJ Grant were removed from the UFC lightweight rankings due to inactivity.

Diaz took a year off from fighting and returned to face Rafael Dos Anjos in December. Before the fight, he was unable to cut weight to make the lightweight division limit, even with overtime. He was fined 20% of the fight fee, which went to Anjus. Anjus won the one-sided fight by unanimous decision.

Diaz was supposed to face off against Matt Brown in the summer of 2015, but Brown said in April that the decision to fight between them had been reconsidered. As a result, Diaz was again in hiatus for a year and faced Michael Johnson in December, winning by decision.

In March 2016, as a replacement for the injured Rafael dos Anjos, he fought Conor McGregor, having learned about the fight just 11 days before. Due to the fact that Diaz would not have time to lose weight, the fight took place in the welterweight division. Diaz won in the second round, which turned out to be his ninth victory by submission, the most victories by submission since Royce Grace.

The rematch with McGregor was supposed to take place in July 2016, but three months before the event, McGregor was removed from the card due to his inability to fulfill promises made to the media. However, their meeting still took place the following month. Diaz lost by majority decision, earning $2 million for the fight and another $50,000 bonus for the Fight of the Night award.

Main titles

Lightweight Tournament WinnerThe Ultimate Fighter 5

Received the Fight of the Night award eight times for fights with Josh Neer, Clay Guida, Joe Stevenson, Marcus Davis, Donaldo Cerrone, Michael Johnson, Conor McGregor (twice).

He received the Submission of the Night award five times for fights with Alvin Robinson, Kurt Pellegrino, Melvin Guillard, Takanori Gomi, Jim Miller.

One-time "Knockout of the Night" award for the fight with Gray Maynard.

One-time “Performance of the Night” award for the fight with Conor McGregor.

History of fights

Nate Diaz

Nathan Donald "Nate" Diaz. Born April 16, 1985 in Stockton, California, USA. American mixed martial arts fighter.

Nate Diaz was born on April 16, 1985 in Stockton, California (USA). He is of Mexican descent on his father's side.

He is one of three children of Melissa Brown and Robert Diaz.

He has a younger sister, Nina, and an older brother, Nick, also a famous mixed martial arts fighter.

His father actually left the family while Nate was still in school. Therefore, Nate's mother had to work several jobs to feed her large family.

Nate graduated from Tokay High School in Lodi, California.

From school, he began to practice his favorite form of martial arts - Brazilian jiu-jitsu, in which he received a brown belt. His trainer was Caesar Gracie. Nate competed as a member of the Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu team.

Following the example of his older brother Nick, he began to engage in martial arts at the age of 14. Together they made their dream come true - they got into the Lodai school of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, where they trained with Nicholas Lipari. Then he practiced boxing, where his coach was Richard Perez.

At the age of 18 he became a vegan.

He made his debut as a professional fighter in October 2004 with a victory over Alejandro Garcia at the WEC 12 tournament - he won by choke.

However, the next fight, which he had in August 2005, Nate lost to the Japanese Koji Oishi by decision - the fight took place in Japan (Pancrase tournament: 2005 Neo-Blood Tournament Finals).

This was followed by a series of early victories over Tony Juarez (technical knockout), Gilbert Rael (technical knockout), Joe Hurley (choke), Dennis Davis (pain).

Then, during 2006-2015, he fought dozens of fights, generally establishing himself as an average fighter - he won more often, but often lost. So, on December 13, 2014, he lost by decision to Rafael dos Anjos.

Since 2007, Nate Diaz has been a fighter in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), a Las Vegas (USA)-based organization that conducts mixed martial arts (MMA) fights in North America, Europe and Asia.

He took part in the television reality show “The Ultimate Fighter5”, where he fought for the team led by Jens Pulver. In the final, he defeated Manvel Gamburyan and became the winner.

But Nate Diaz became widely known in 2016 after his fights with the Irish MMA fighting legend.

Nate Diaz vs Conor McGregor

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor has decided to move up to welterweight. He was asked to choose his own opponent. The Irishman chose Nate Diaz.

On the eve of the fight, all forecasts were on McGregor’s side - it was believed that he would easily deal with Diaz, and ahead of schedule.

The fight began with active attacks from McGregor - both with his hands and feet. The Irishman’s activity also included complete control of the center of the octagon; in the second half of the first round, he cut Diaz’s eyebrow.

In the second round, McGregor again began to attack Nate Diaz and again stained his face with blood. However, the endurance for which Diaz is famous helped him survive. In the middle of the second five-minute period, McGregor was shocked by his opponent's deuce. Diaz began to increase the pressure, he pushed the Irishman against the wall and began to beat him. The Irishman, having freed himself from the clinch, responded with a good combination and then desperately threw himself at Diaz’s feet. The fight went to the ground, where the Irishman was unable to offer resistance and fell into the guillotine, suffering his first defeat in the UFC.

This time, all forecasts, including bookmakers, were on Diaz's side.

The fight began with cautious actions by both fighters, but by the middle of the first five minutes they began to act more actively. The first round clearly went to McGregor, who hit more accurately and was able to knock down Diaz.

Later in the fight, Conor knocked Nate down twice more. However, according to many experts, all other rounds (2, 3, 4 and 5) were won by Diaz. In particular, in the third round, only the gong saved McGregor from a knockout - the Irishman was already “swimming” after a series of powerful blows from Diaz.

Nevertheless, the victory was awarded to McGregor by decision of the judges: 48-47, 47-47, 48-47.

Total hits:

McGregor: 322 (total), of which 197 were accurate (62% hits)
Diaz: 435 (total), of which 252 were accurate (58% hits).

Significant hits:

McGregor: 286 (total), of which 164 were accurate (58% hits)
Diaz: 343 (total), of which 166 were accurate (48% hits).

Dry statistics are in favor of Diaz. But the UFC has its own rules.

Nate Diaz himself said that he considers his defeat by the judges’ decision to be unfair. A day after the fight, he said: “I watched the recording of the fight last night, I’m sure that I definitely won. After the first round, all rounds are mine.

I feel like I should have spent less time on takedowns and instead spent more time on stand-up fighting. I hate it when opponents start fighting, but I thought it would be easy and he would let his guard down at the last minute.

I won't do anything until we meet a third time. I don't need to do anything. Until then you won't see me. I will return to the octagon, only for the sake of a high-profile fight, a big deal and a good contract. Money is still tight. There will never be enough."

Nate Diaz - highlights

Nate Diaz height: 183 centimeters.

Nate Diaz Arm Span: 193 centimeters.

Nate Diaz is known for his endurance. Which is not surprising: together with his brother, in addition to martial arts, they are actively involved in triathlon and compete in this sport.

Personal life of Nate Diaz:

Since 2012, he has been dating Misty Brown; in fact, they live in a civil marriage. Brown was born on March 24, 1985 in California.

Misty is quite an athletic girl and enjoys playing softball, running marathons, and hiking. But what she loves most is spending time with Nate, his family and friends. Misty can always be seen in the front seat in any of Nate's fights.

Nate's family is known to treat Misty very well, as well as her family adore Nate and are his fans.