Nicholas Robert Diaz, born on August 2, 1983, is an American professional boxer and mixed martial artist. He has competed in both the Welterweight and Middleweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Raised in Stockton, California, Diaz has become a notable figure in the world of mixed martial arts.
Diaz was born and raised in Stockton, California. He is of Mexican and Anglo heritage. Nick has a younger brother, Nate and a younger sister Nina who were mostly raised by their mother Melissa as their father was not around much. Diaz began training in karate and aikido from a young age and also participated in wrestling tournaments during his teenage years. Diaz attended Tokay High School in Lodi, California, for a year before dropping out.
When and why did you start training for fighting? I started training because I was having problems with some people who were bigger physically than I was. When I saw the UFC, I was impressed and wanted to some day be able to perform like those fighters.
What ranks and titles have you held? Black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Cesar Gracie. WEC welterweight champ/ IFC welterweight champ / Strikeforce welterweight champion
Do you have any heroes? Royce Gracie.
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What is your favorite technique? Triangle choke.
What does it mean for you to fight in the UFC? It is a dream fulfilled.
What was your job before you started fighting?
Early Career
Diaz was then invited to participate in Ultimate Athlete's King of the Mountain, a single-night tournament that took place two months later. Diaz returned to defend his IFC Welterweight Championship against the man who defeated him one year earlier, Jeremy Jackson at IFC Warriors Challenge 18. This bout was for Diaz's IFC United States Welterweight Championship, Jackson's IFC Americas Welterweight Championship and the vacant ISKA-MMA Americas Welterweight Championship.
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Return to the UFC
Diaz returned to the Octagon at UFC 47, set to take on future EliteXC Middleweight Champion Robbie Lawler. Lawler was a heavy favorite coming into the fight but it was Diaz who took the offensive, chasing Lawler around the cage for the majority of the bout. Diaz defeated Robbie Lawler by knockout at 1:31 of the second round at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Diaz made his UFC debut against Jeremy Jackson, an opponent be previously had fought on two other occasions. Diaz lost a welterweight bout via split decision after three rounds against Karo Parisyan at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Diaz defeated Drew Fickett by TKO in 4:40 of the 1st round at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Nick defeated Pancrase fighter Koji Oishi by KO in 1:24 of the first round.
Nick lost a unanimous decision to Diego Sanchez in a great fight that featured amazing ground technique. Diaz was confident coming into the bout but was unable to achieve success in the match, ultimately losing to Sanchez by unanimous decision. During the televised post-fight interview in the octagon, Diaz continued the controversy by declaring that he respected Sanchez fighting ability but did not think he deserved to be there, despite Sanchez's win.
Diaz's next fight was against Joe Riggs at UFC 57. Similar to his treatment of Sanchez, Diaz made sure that he taunted his opponent plenty before their fight starting at the official press conference at the event in which Diaz confronted Riggs and the two exchanged words. They continued their conversation at the official weigh-ins in which both fighters had to be separated by UFC president Dana White and other officials present. Nick lost a unanimous decision to Joe Riggs after three rounds.
Diaz returned to his hometown of Stockton and participated in the International Cage Fighting Organization's inaugural event, defeating Ray Steinbeiss by unanimous decision. Diaz was slated to fight in his hometown again against Canadian John Alessio when he received an unexpected call the night before the fight from the UFC asking to fill in for an ill Thiago Alves at UFC 62. After Alessio pulled out, Diaz took advantage of the opportunity, submitting veteran Josh Neer in the third round. Diaz scored one of the most impressive wins of his career as he submitted Josh Neer with a Kimura at 1:42 of the third round.
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Seemingly back in the UFC, Diaz stopped Brazilian newcomer Gleison Tibau with strikes in his next fight at UFC 65. Diaz scored a second round TKO over Gleison Tibau.
PRIDE Fighting Championships
Diaz was signed to a two-fight deal with the PRIDE Fighting Championships with the first scheduled to be against Lightweight Champion Takanori Gomi in a non-title fight on February 24 in Las Vegas. PRIDE 33 was Diaz's first fight in the PRIDE organization and at the weight of 160 lb. While Gomi started the fight strongly, once knocking Diaz to the ground, twice ending up in his guard, and opening up cuts around both of Diaz's eyes, the Californian dominated the stand-up battle with his boxing. At the end of the first round, apparently due to poor cardio on Gomi's part, the Japanese fighter was clearly stunned, throwing much wilder punches and barely maintaining his defense. Early in the second round, the fight was stopped to check a cut suffered under Diaz's eye.
Drug Test Controversy
On April 10, 2007, the Nevada State Athletic Commission announced that Diaz failed the drug test that was taken shortly before his win over Gomi, testing positive for marijuana Metabolites. The NSAC declared the fight a "No Contest" and suspended him for 6 months with a fine of 20% of his earnings ($3,000) won from the fight against Gomi. The Commission felt that the result of Diaz's THC test, an enormous 175, was a contributing factor in his performance during the fight. Commission Chairman Dr. Tony Alamo said that while a result of 15 is considered positive, the NSAC has a threshold of 50 for athletes. Dr. Alamo went on to say, "Mr. Diaz was 175. This creates a unique situation. I was there at this fight and believe that you were intoxicated and... that it made you numb to the pain. Did it help you win? I think it did."
Despite Diaz being surrounded by other athletes and video cameras for several hours before the fight, Alamo gave no explanation for why he believed Diaz had used marijuana in the hours preceding the event.
EliteXC
Diaz made his debut for EliteXC in Hawaii on September 15, 2007 on Showtime. He won a hard-fought split decision over his opponent Mike Aina. MMA Weekly reported that Nick Diaz signed a two-year deal with EliteXC and in his next fight, fought K. J. Noons for the vacant 160 pound title.
Once the fight began, the two exchanged rather evenly on the feet until Noons dropped Diaz with a well timed right counterpunch. Diaz attempted several takedowns, all of which were stuffed by Noons, on one occasion with a swift right knee which opened up a notable gash on Diaz's face, eventually resulting in a loss via doctor stoppage due to multiple cuts on his forehead. After losing to Noons, Diaz had surgery and had the bone filed down on his eyebrows to mitigate any bad cuts in future bouts.
Diaz came into his next fight at EliteXC's "Return of the KING" event in Honolulu, Hawaii against Muhsin Corbbrey 9 pounds over the weight limit. Diaz earned a tough win over Corbbrey, following the main event an altercation between Nick and his brother Nate broke out with K. J. Noons and his corner. EliteXC executives asked Diaz to come to the ring and make a statement about a possible title rematch with Noons. Noons, a native of Hawaii, asked the crowd their opinion, resulting in an echo of boos for Diaz.
After Nick spoke over the microphone to Noons, saying, "don't be scared homie," Karl Noons, K. J.'s father, lunged at him prompting Nate Diaz to throw a water bottle at Karl. The Diaz brothers were quickly escorted out of the cage by a group of security staff. During interviews the next day Nick claimed Karl was intoxicated and overreacting. Meanwhile, Karl claimed his incident was prompted by the thrown bottle. Video replay of the event showed Nate throwing the bottle after Karl jumped at Nick.
Nick went on to face Thomas Denny. After a sluggish start to the fight, Diaz found his range and dominated Denny during the latter half of the first round. Diaz continued to keep the fight standing and maintained a high-paced tempo for the remainder of the fight, earning an impressive knockout victory over the veteran Denny 0:30 into round two.
Diaz was rumoured to have a rematch against the current EliteXC Lightweight Champion K. J. Noons, airing on CBS October 4, 2008. However, Noons and his camp refused to accept the match. Mark Dion, Noon's manager was quoted as saying, "As far as Nick Diaz, he's not the No.
Post-EliteXC Career
Diaz was victorious in DREAM 3, defeating Katsuya Inoue by TKO in the first round. With Strikeforce's acquisition of ProElite's assets, CEO Scott Coker had announced that Nick would face off against MMA legend Frank Shamrock at a Catchweight of 179 lb, at their upcoming event, Strikeforce: Shamrock vs.
At Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields Diaz met former UFC veteran Scott Smith at a Catchweight of 180 pounds. Although Smith took Diaz down once in the first round, Diaz controlled the majority of the bout with his superior boxing, utilizing his reach, stalking jabs and repeatedly punishing Smith with hooks to the body, twice dropping him in the second and third round.
It was announced that Diaz would be fighting Joe Riggs at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg taking place on August 15, in which would have been a rematch of their first fight that took place at UFC 57: Couture vs Liddell 3, in which both fighters fought in the cage and then again at the local hospital later in the evening. The fight would have been for the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship but, Riggs had to pull out of the bout due to an adverse reaction to a drug.
Diaz faced Strikeforce newcomer and then-DREAM Welterweight Champion Marius Žaromskis to crown the first Strikeforce Welterweight Champion on January 30, 2010 at Strikeforce: Miami. Žaromskis came out aggressively and the two men exchanged on the feet until Diaz tied his opponent up in the clinch and landed numerous knees to Žaromskis' right leg. Diaz then scored a takedown and looked for a guillotine choke â quickly shrugged off by his opponent. The two men continued to exchange, with Diaz utilizing his unorthodox boxing skills, until rocked by a Žaromskis left hook and falling to his back. Žaromskis landed few effective shots while Diaz was "turtled" on the floor, allowing him to recover and stand back up. In the few remaining minutes, Diaz opened up with his boxing range, tagging Žaromskis cleanly several times with combos composed of jabs, hooks and seamless bodyshots; forcing him against the side of the cage where he landed a solid uppercut that dropped his opponent leading to the referee to stop the contest at 4:38 of the first round.
Diaz defeated former PRIDE veteran Hayato Sakurai by armbar submission in a non-title bout at DREAM 14. Diaz defeated K. J. Noons in a rematch of their 2007 bout for the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship. Diaz won via unanimous decision (48â47, 49â47, and 49â46). Diaz defeated Brazilian Evangelista Santos who had an 18â13 MMA record going into the bout on January 29, 2011 at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg via armbar in the second round. Diaz defeated English fighter Paul Daley at Strikeforce: Diaz vs.
Return to UFC
UFC president Dana White stated that a matchup between Diaz and UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre was a possible consideration. Diaz and St-Pierre were rumored to be the next coaches for The Ultimate Fighter 14 reality show, but the show debuted on September 21, 2011, with Michael Bisping and Jason Miller as coaches. Nick Diaz vacated his Strikeforce Welterweight Championship title prior to his bout with Georges St-Pierre.
Dana White made the decision to take Diaz out of the fight and replace him with former WEC Welterweight Champion and future UFC Interim Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit, due to Diaz missing multiple flights for a press event to support the fight. It was announced that Diaz would fight B.J.
It was announced at the hearing in May 2012 that Diaz was suspended for one year, retroactive to February 4, 2012, and fined 30 percent of his fight purse earned from the Condit bout. As of July 28, 2013, Diaz had once again retired from MMA competition, though Dana White stated in interviews that he felt that Diaz was simply on hiatus, financially sound from the GSP fight, but did expect him to return eventually. A possible Middleweight matchup between Michael Bisping and Nick Diaz was briefly linked, but soon turned down by Diaz. At UFC on Fox 9 in Sacramento, Dana White offered Diaz a rematch with Carlos Condit; Diaz turned it down. On July 24, 2014, it was announced that Diaz had signed a three-fight contract to return to the UFC.
Diaz faced Anderson Silva on January 31, 2015 at UFC 183. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. A few days after the fight, the UFC revealed that Diaz had once again failed his post-fight drug test for marijuana metabolites, and Silva tested positive on January 9 for drostanolone, androstane, oxazepam, and temazepam in pre-fight drug screening.
On August 13, after several reschedules, Silva's disciplinary hearing was held to decide on the subject. Silva's defense argued that a tainted sexual enhancement supplement was the root of the two failed tests for drostanolone and also appealed to mistakes in the NSAC testing procedures, pointing to a pair of drug tests, one on Jan 19 and one after the fight, which Silva passed. He admitted to using both temazepam and oxazepam, benzodiazepines, the night prior to the fight as therapy to control stress and help him sleep. Silva's team was unable to explain the presence of androsterone in the Jan 9 test. The commission rejected the defense and suspended him for one year retroactive to the date of the fight, as the current guidelines were not in effect at the time of the failed tests. Silva was also fined his full win bonus, as well as 30% of his show money, totaling $380,000.
On September 14, 2015 the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended Diaz for 5 years and fined him $165,000 following his failed drug test of marijuana metabolites at UFC 183. Following his appeal four months later in January 2016, the suspension and fine were reduced to 18 months and $100,000. The suspension was officially lifted on August 1, 2016.
Diaz had served a technical suspension due to outstanding fines with the NSAC as stipulated in his settlement claim. On April 9, 2018, Diaz accepted a one-year USADA sanction for failing to report his whereabouts to USADA on three occasions from the third quarter of 2016 to the first quarter of 2017. After a long hiatus since 2015, Diaz returned to rematch against Robbie Lawler on September 25, 2021 at UFC 266. The bout was contested at middleweight and was a special non-title, non-main event five round bout. After a back-and-forth fight, Diaz was knocked down with punches in round three, but was given the opportunity to return to his feet. Diaz was stopped by Robbie Lawler at 0:44 of the third round
Other Ventures
Diaz currently teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu with his brother Nate in Lodi, California. Diaz appears in the feature-length documentary Fight Life (2013), which chronicles the lives of mixed martial artists outside the cage; the film is directed by independent filmmaker James Z.
On April 17, 2010, following Jake Shields's victory over Dan Henderson at Strikeforce: Nashville, Jason "Mayhem" Miller entered the cage, without proper approval, during Shields's post-fight interview. During that interview, Miller interrupted and bumped into Shields and asked "Where's my rematch, buddy?". Gilbert Melendez responded by putting a hand on Miller's shoulder to tell him to back up. Miller followed this up by attempting to shove Melendez which led to Melendez shoving him backwards. Nick, his brother Nate, and the rest of the Cesar Gracie fight team rushed in and attacked Miller. Miller was thrown to the mat and beaten.
Following the events of the Nashville Brawl, Miller expressed an interest in fighting Nick Diaz. The 170 lb Diaz refused stating he was the Strikeforce Welterweight Champion and needed to continue to fight at that weight. He requested Miller move down to 170 lb to fight him. Miller continued to attempt to set up a fight, offering 183 lb as a catchweight. Diaz counter-offered a catchweight of 181 lb.
Diaz was set to take on Braulio Estima in a grappling ma...
Nick Diaz | Career Highlights 2021 (HD)
Fight Statistics
| Date | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Sep. 25, 2021 | UFC 266 | Diaz was stopped by Robbie Lawler at 0:44 of the third round |
| Jan. 31, 2015 | UFC 183 | Diazâ five round unanimous decision loss to Anderson Silva was overturned to a no contest after both fighters failed post-fight drug tests |
| Mar. 16, 2013 | UFC 158 | Diaz lost a five round unanimous decision to Georges St-Pierre in a UFC welterweight title fight |
| Feb. 4, 2012 | UFC 143 | Diaz lost a five round unanimous decision to Carlos Condit in an interim UFC welterweight title fight |
| Oct. 29, 2011 | UFC 137 | Diaz won a three round unanimous decision over BJ Penn |
| Nov. 18, 2006 | UFC 65 | Diaz scored a second round TKO over Gleison Tibau |
| Aug. 26, 2006 | UFC 62 | Diaz scored one of the most impressive wins of his career as he submitted Josh Neer with a Kimura at 1:42 of the third round. |
| Apr. 15, 2006 | UFC 59 | Diaz lost a hard fought three round unanimous decision to Sean Sherk. |
| Feb. 04, 2006 | UFC 57 | Nick lost a unanimous decision to Joe Riggs after three rounds. |
| Nov. 05, 2005 | Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale | Nick lost a unanimous decision to Diego Sanchez in a great fight that featured amazing ground technique. |
| Jun. 04, 2005 | UFC 53 | Nick defeated Pancrase fighter Koji Oishi by KO in 1:24 of the first round. |
| Feb. 5, 2005 | UFC 51 | Diaz defeated Drew Fickett by TKO in 4:40 of the 1st round at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. |
| Aug. 21, 2004 | UFC 49 | Diaz lost a welterweight bout via split decision after three rounds against Karo Parisyan at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. |
| Apr. 2, 2004 | UFC 47 | Diaz defeated Robbie Lawler by knockout at 1:31 of the second round at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. |
| Sep. 26, 2003 | UFC 44 | Diaz made his UFC debut against Jeremy Jackson, an opponent be previously had fought on two other occasions. |