The Ballad of Nick Diaz (Patreon)

By Southpaw

Introduction: On the Realities of Fighting

By Sam Yang (@StuffFromSam)

I've been following the unpredictable career of professional fighter Nick Diaz since his early regional days.

Diaz has been champion, has been suspended, has been banned, has been fined, but when he fights, he moves in one direction—forward.

Diaz is as transparent as dirty dishwater; equal parts punk rock and street poet. Many of the things he says can only be understood by Diaz. But then there are times he says something with such lucidity, that his inner truths resonate with a universal timbre.

What is it like to be a championship-level fighter? To this, Nick Diaz once told a reporter:

"In order to love fighting, I have to hate it. There is no love in this without hate. You've gotta love it so you want it so bad that you push yourself to those limits. To where you just simply hate it. And if you ain't there, to where you hate it, then good luck trying to love this shit."

There is a similar fighter fatalism in the book Ender's Game, where the protagonist explains the conflict of being great at war. It's a dark reality Nick Diaz must know all too well. From Ender's Game:

"In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him. I think it's impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves. And then, in that very moment when I love them — [I don't beat them] ... I destroy them. I make it impossible for them to ever hurt me again. I grind them and grind them until they don't exist."

You have to suffer to be good at what you do. But being good at what you do makes you suffer. In pyrrhic victories, even the winners are casualties of the fight. And if all you know is fighting, there is no peace for the weary. Victory or defeat, when one enters the cantos of hell, there will be trauma.

The Ballad of Nick Diaz

By Paul

When Ariel Helwani sat down to speak with Nick Diaz for ESPN, there was a moment early on where you can visibly see confusion coming from the host. He has dealt with antagonism from Diaz in the past, even getting a verbal warning that where Diaz is from, people like Helwani get slapped. But alas, this was different. Diaz was never a well-spoken fighter, and he's not going to deliver a killer promo—pro-wrestling style. However, he was always able to come up with some witty one-liners and express himself fairly well without anyone being confused as to what he meant to say.

In this interview, it was hard to tell if Diaz was intoxicated, high, fighting off a hangover, or finally showing signs of brain trauma. He starts off rambling about how he's had a rough week, the great seats he got, and the pressure he's under (all within the first minute). None of it really made sense, even after repeat viewings. It's tough to watch, but try and check out a few minutes here.

I am not a doctor nor a part of Diaz's inner circle. I have no idea what kind of lifestyle Diaz is leading behind closed doors. Anyone who has followed Diaz on social media knows all about his recent partying ways, not to mention his long-time advocacy of marijuana usage. There is also no way to know how much damage he's taken throughout his entire career as a pro; especially when you consider the amount of striking he's done as sparring partners for professional boxers. It's also very possible it's a combination of all the things above, but no one can say for sure what's causing this decline.

For newer fans of the sport, it might be difficult for them to see why Nick Diaz commands so much hype. Outside of being the older brother of Nate Diaz, he hasn't competed since 2015. You have to go back to 2011 to find a fight that Diaz has won (against B.J. Penn, who was already past his prime). However, his record doesn't capture what made Diaz so special to begin with.

To help some of the casual fans get acquainted with the elder Diaz (and refresh the memories of older fans), let's go through some of Diaz's best moments.

Nick Diaz vs. Robbie Lawler (UFC 47, April 2004)

"If you're getting paid more than me, I'm definitely more excited about this ass whoopin' I'm gonna put down on you."

In just his second fight for the UFC, Diaz was matched up against Robbie Lawler. Despite both having a similar record heading into the contest, Lawler was 4-1 in the UFC and coming off a decisive victory over Chris Lytle. Lytle's boxing background helped him keep the fight competitive on the feet, but Lawler's speed and aggression more than made up for his technical shortcomings.

In the third round, Lawler managed to drop Lytle and cruise to a unanimous decision. Outside of a TKO injury loss against Pete Spratt, it was clear that the UFC was expecting great things from Lawler and figured that he would run right through Diaz. Diaz never got that memo and proceeded to stand and trade with the "Ruthless" striker.

From the get-go, Diaz started stalking Lawler and made sure to pressure him throughout the first round, using a slew of feints, jabs, and overhand hooks to keep Lawler at bay. Diaz was content with absorbing hooks to his forearms and moving his head slightly off-center to avoid the serious blows. But for the fans, it was Diaz's trash-talking that got their attention. (Before this fight, Lawler was the one known for jawing at his opponents, not Diaz.) Keep in mind that this is the same Lawler who almost killed Tiki Ghosn at UFC 40 because Ghosn claimed that Lawler was all hype and not as good as everyone thought he was.

It almost seemed as if Diaz had a death wish, taunting Lawler to move forward and calling him a bitch every time one of his punches whizzed by his head. One of the underrated tactics that Diaz used was to throw the 1, 2 directly into the clinch, where he could throw a knee or try for some uppercuts before letting go and throwing a quick right hook. This was a favorite tactic of Fedor back in the day, and something that Daniel Cormier does exceptionally well in all his fights. It was surprising to see the normally iron-jawed Lawler get rocked by Diaz throughout the fight, and in the end, it was a counter hook that knocked him out.

Diaz had been setting up that particular counter strike throughout the fight by moving his upper body slightly back and countering with hooks every time Lawler missed with his wild swings. Diaz caught Lawler clean on the button after Lawler threw a right hook and left his opposite side undefended. This counter hook remained a staple move for Diaz, and it's one of the tools that any decent southpaw should have in their arsenal. Many fans from the pre-TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) era can pinpoint this fight as the one where they became Diaz fans. Given the danger that standing with Lawler presented, Diaz not only obliged but won by knockout. Even though talks of a rematch were discussed frequently in the mid-2000s and again when both fighters were in Strikeforce, it never materialized. Fortunately, we'll always have this classic to revisit.

"So my bottom line is I wanted to get a bunch of this stuff off my chest is...is that...you know...I'm not no chump. I'm not going to just talk shit or whatever. I can't remember where I was really going with that."

Nick Diaz vs. Joe Riggs (UFC 57, February 2006)

"Shut the door on him? Right…but I ain't no bitch."

Truth be told, there isn't anything special about this fight from a technical standpoint. Joe Riggs was coming off a loss against Matt Hughes in a title fight, and Diaz was trying to get back in the win column after an exciting match against Diego Sanchez. Even if you didn't watch this fight, you can probably predict how it went down: Riggs got to work early against Diaz with some heavy strikes and grappling, only for Diaz to rally back with time running out. But the exciting part happened after the fight.

After three hard-fought rounds, both fighters were sent to the hospital. It didn't take long before Diaz started jawing at Riggs, claiming that he won the fight, and if there were more rounds the fight would've been completely different. Depending on who's side of the story you believe, someone ended up winning the unofficial fourth round. I can give you a play by play, but it's actually way funnier to watch this animated video.

Not surprisingly, this wouldn't be the last Diaz post-fight scuffle. It's interesting to note that even in defeat, Diaz stays defiant and insists that just like Vince Lombardi, he didn't lose, he just ran out of time.

"My brother was standing right there we could have jumped him, but we're not like that. I ain't no bitch and I ain't no punk and I don't want to be a poor sport but I feel like I won that fight. I'm definitely better than that guy."

Nick Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi (PRIDE 33, February 2007)

"That little fucker hit me with a hadoken or something."

It's no secret that by the time that Pride FC made its US debut, it was on its last legs. Having suffered a scandal back home in Japan, the organization was hoping that there was enough interest from the American audience to keep the whole thing alive. Sadly, it did not happen, but we did get two great US shows out of it, with the second card featuring none other than Takanori Gomi making his stateside debut against Nick Diaz.

At the time, Gomi was widely considered the best lightweight not fighting in the UFC. Gomi's boxing combined with his wrestling base and submission defense made him a nightmare match-up for many fighters over in Pride. And since Pride was in a ring instead of a cage, it made his stand-up much more potent. Not only could Gomi hit hard, but he was also committed to striking you to the body while relentlessly moving forward. His pace and punching power were often too much for his opponents.

Nick Diaz has seen this movie before, and he decided that he didn't care if he knew the ending. Disgruntled with the contract that the UFC was offering him, Diaz jumped at the chance to fight for a rival organization and potentially put another loss on Gomi's record. This fight was a culmination of all the classic Diaz moves: taunting with his hands high in the air, trash talking while throwing hooks, throwing 1,2s consistently with varying degrees of power, and punctuating his combinations with lots and lots of hooks.

One of Diaz's favorite striking combinations is throwing hooks on the same side repeatedly. Many MMA strikers fall into a habit of varying their hooks, going from left to right or right to left. Seldom do we see fighters constantly throwing two, three, or even four punches to the same side. It's a shame, considering the amount of damage you can inflict while catching your opponent by surprise. Ricky Hatton is one of the best examples of how multiple hooks on the same side can not just hurt but finish fights completely.

The fight between Gomi and Diaz is one of the best match-ups in Pride FC history, and it's one of only a handful of matches that have ended in gogoplata. Before the submission, Gomi was clearly hurting Diaz with hooks and straights, even dropping him in the first round. Despite being the much shorter fighter, Gomi had no problem getting in close and pounding Diaz's head and body. What led to Gomi's downfall was his lack of pacing and commitment to bodywork.

Like many wrestlers who discover they have dynamite in their hands, Gomi fell into the trap of looking for one punch knockouts instead of accruing damage to set up the finishing blows. Diaz is all too familiar with this kind of game plan, he saw it earlier in his career against the likes of Robbie Lawler and Chris Lytle. The volume of Diaz is often touted as his primary weapon, but what isn't discussed as often is his precision. He does a fantastic job of mixing up his punches to your head, jawline, sternum, ribs, liver, kidneys—you name it, he'll punch it.

To make matters worse, Diaz can vary the power in his strikes, opting to use full force only when appropriate. This means that you can take multiple soft and medium punches all throughout the fight, never realizing that the worst was yet to come. And that's what happened to Gomi.

Diaz peppered Gomi with jabs hooks, knowing that Gomi was too tired to throw anything back. After round one, it was clear that the accuracy and volume of Diaz were too much for Gomi to handle.

Even though he landed a vicious knee on Diaz's face in round 2, it wasn't enough to save him. A desperation takedown by Gomi led to Diaz pulling off the gogoplata over an exhausted Gomi, one of the best lightweights of his era.

The victory would soon be overturned, however, due to the ridiculously high level of THC in his pre-fight urine sample, an unheard-of level of 175 (a result of 15 is considered positive). This raises some serious questions as to the scientific accuracy of the tests, since the only way to test at that high of a level is for an athlete to have been constantly smoking leading up to the fight itself. Somewhat impossible considering that Diaz was tightly monitored by NSAC members while he was in the arena. The win was turned over to a No-Contest, and Diaz managed to avoid any more controversy in his career. Sike! If only.

"Making weed illegal is a little bit paranoid, don't you think? It's like saying God made a mistake, you know what I mean? It's like, you've got the whole world and earth and all its holy creations, right? And God is like, 'Hmm, look it, my whole world in all its holy ways,' and he's like, 'Oh-my-me-oh-shit, I left weed in here. Yeah right, I left weed in here. Oh, shouldn't have smoked that joint on the third day."

Nick Diaz vs KJ Noons 2 (Strikeforce: Diaz vs Noons II, October 2010)

"Don't be scared, homie."

Anyone remember EliteXC? The promotion that ran 20 shows from February 2007 to October 2008? The organization that introduced the world to Gina Carano and Kimbo Slice? No? It's okay, a lot of people don't. In their eighth outing, EliteXC pitted Nick Diaz against KJ Noons for their brand-new lightweight title (which was 160 pounds, but who's counting?). Up to this point, Noons was a decent fighter but nowhere in Diaz's league when it came to MMA. In the same year that he fought for the title, Noons got knocked out by Charles Bennett, better known as Krazy Horse. Yes, that Charles Bennett.

Despite the blatant favoritism by EliteXC, Noons shocked the world and boxed up Diaz on the feet. The nasty cut that Diaz suffered in the Gomi fight got ripped right open again, and the fight was called off at the end of round 1 due to doctor stoppage. Diaz had been seeking a rematch with Noons to right this wrong, and he finally got it three years later in Strikeforce. Noons took full advantage of his brief time as champion, defending the title before taking his talents over to DREAM and Strikeforce. According to Diaz, Noons had no problem flaunting his family and girlfriend before their match-up, something he found bizarre and oddly offensive. When they fought again in 2010, Diaz had clearly done his homework on Noons and was the more prepared fighter. Even though Diaz still came out southpaw, he was switching to orthodox more frequently and started to use inside slips to cut an angle and get the dominant position over Noons.

Even though he lost due to cuts the first time around, it's no secret that he was getting outworked, and his poor foot placement cost him in the striking department. Diaz also smothered the rear hand of Noons and kept him from lunging in with strikes, something he failed to do the first time around. Not only was Diaz jabbing with more accuracy and volume, his willingness to throw kicks and knees flummoxed the more decorated striker in Noons, and it was clear that he had no answer for Diaz. The Diaz brothers get a lot of flak for being predictable and unwilling to evolve, but this fight shows that occasionally, they are capable of learning and adapting (especially if revenge is on their minds).

"If I have a girlfriend, I don't bring her to flaunt her. She doesn't get to reap the benefits of me being famous."

Nick Diaz vs Paul Daley (Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley, April 2011)

"If people can't handle watching me or they can't handle the intensity of my life or they can't handle me cussing saying fuck this and fuck, then you know, I think people really need to become a little more mature, kinda grow up a little bit…"

Even though this fight only lasted a single round, it was one of the best rounds in MMA history. This was everything fans love seeing in a stand-up war: power punches, smart feinting, exchanging of hooks, and some knees being thrown in for good measure. Daley took advantage early of Diaz's narrow stance and hammered him with a leg kick early on. It's no secret that the stance of Diaz is great for utilizing the jab and cornering fighters when their back is against the fence, but it's susceptible to low kicks. Anyone that focuses on utilizing a jab-heavy game plan while in this stance must be aware of this trade-off.

More often than not, it's worked for Diaz, so why change it for someone that's not KJ Noons? Diaz also does a great job of pressuring his opponents to the fence, and Daley was no exception. However, Daley is still an explosive welterweight that can circle out and burst in, which is what he did to Diaz. A leaping left hook caught Diaz on the temple and momentarily dropped him, allowing Daley to tee off unencumbered while Diaz was on all fours.

Fortunately for Diaz, his chin and heart were on full display as he worked his way back up. Daley tried to end the fight early and unload on Diaz, but Diaz utilized jabs and clinch work to buy himself time and space to regroup. Much like all his other fights, Diaz is willing to play the long game and work on his volume and accuracy while you explode towards him and empty out your tank.

A combination of jabbing into clinches or even allowing himself to be put in the Thai clinch to throw hooks at his opponents—this is what makes Nick Diaz a blood and guts fighter. He's willing to kill himself to beat you. But when he's on point, few fighters can match the bodywork of Nick Diaz; the Daley fight being one of the best examples. Diaz constantly hit Daley with hooks from top to bottom, and often hitting Daley multiple times on the same side. But this strategy isn't without its risks. Daley didn't get nicknamed "Semtex" because of his grappling—his explosive left hook has ended fights in an instant. And it made a second appearance late in round one and almost finished Diaz again!—but almost isn't enough. Diaz found a way back to his feet (again!) and exchanged hooks with Daley (again!), stumbling Daley then finishing him with strikes with only seconds left to go. It was everything fans had come to love about Diaz. 

These fights aren't meant to show that Diaz is perfect, his 26-9-2 record is proof of that. His style has often gotten him in trouble, and he has been involved in more than a handful of incidents that reflect poorly on MMA and its athletes. With that said, these fights serve as a reminder of a time and place when Nick Diaz proved that no one, not even his brother, is quite like him.

The stereotypical MMA fighter with their shaved head, ballooned physique, tattooed bodies, and brawling styles are in stark contrast to Diaz. He isn't a role model, but that's okay. We don't need to pretend that he's a heroe, but let's not paint him as a villain either. It might be hard to see how much Diaz has (worryingly) changed in recent times, especially if you've been a fan from the start of his career. But even if you're disheartened by his recent track record, understand that that's not the full picture. The pride of 209 will continue in the generation of fighters he's inspired, and I can't wait to see what else the future has in store for the Diaz brothers. As Nate Diaz said the moment he beat Anthony Pettis,

"Nick Diaz army, mother fuckers."

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