Nate Diaz made his true UFC debut at the the Ultimate 5 Finale against Manvel Gamburyan (cousin to current UFC welterweight fighter Karo Parisyan). Diaz won the match due to a shoulder injury that Gamburyan suffered within the first 20 seconds of the first round.
Although many have questioned whether or not Diaz was fit for the UFC scene, he has proven to be a well-rounded fighter. After defeating Gamburyan, Diaz went on to win 3 consecutive bouts against top lightweight competitors including Kurt Pellegrino, Alvin Robinson and Junior Assunacao.
The biggest test Diaz ever faced was without a doubt Kurt Pellegrino. During their bout, Pellegrino showed how strong and versatile his fighting style can be as he completely shut down Diaz from all angles in the entire first round. Just when you thought Diaz was done, Pellegrino was stunned by the quickness of Diaz when he slipped in a triangle choke to take home the win.
Diaz now has 4 straight wins in the UFC and his next opponent is scheduled to take place at the UFC Fight Night (UFN) 14 event against Josh Neer.
Diaz was asked a few questions regarding one of Tyson Griffin as he is considered to be one of the top lightweight competitors in the UFC. Here’s what Diaz had to say about Griffin:
"That guy (Tyson Griffin) doesn’t want to fight me because he thinks
he’s somewhere higher up than me? I just beat a guy that’s better than
him. When was the last time he finished a fight anyways against any 155
pounder that was half decent on the ground..oh yeah never."
Now Nate Diaz vs. Tyson Griffin would definitely be an interesting bout. Let’s just see how he’ll perform against the very tough Josh Neer. Neer has won three MMA fights in a row including one UFC win over Din Thomas via a unanimous decision on the UFN 13 fight card.
