Nick Diaz willing to fight at light heavyweight 'if something big came along'

That’s true his great on the ground and boxing i mean for some one to throw close to 400 punche’s and land a litle over half that really good i think he would have finished him off faster if he would have stoped playing around

Been a Nick Diaz fan since day one and will continue to be no matter what. You gotta love his attitude. Yeah, some people think he’s a “thug” but what they don’t realize is that 99.9% of all his prefight talk is simply to sell the fight (except KJ Noons, Joe Riggs, and Diego Sanchez).

I have way more respect for the fighters that try to challenge themselves and fight guys bigger than them to truely test thier skills, ala BJ Penn and Gegard Moussasi. These are the TRUE warriors.

GSP is a 205 lb’er that fights at 170. Nick is a 170 lb’er that fights at 160, 170, 180, and wants 205. Too many fighters rely on thier size to win them fights. Size means nothing if you don’t have the technique to go with it.

The problem for every fighter out there right now is that Nick has more technical standup and BJJ than the vast majority of fighters in any weight division.

I wonder if Dana White wishes he still had Nick Diaz??

Great post VM, absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! When you mention TRUE Warriors please dont forget the name WANDERLEI Silva who has fought at Heavyweiught and LHW most of his career, 2 weight classes that he had no business fighting in, let alone dominating! So sick of monsters cutting 20 lbs and then fighting… like Forrest and GSP (who I am a fan of). Take away Forrest’s size advantage, if he were fighting at LHW the size Bisping was when he fought at LHW, he would get DESTROYED!!!

only thing that I dont like about the Diaz situation is that ideally they want him at 170 lbs. There is no point in that! All the best WW are in the UFC. only 2 top welterweights outside the UFC are Sheilds and Diaz who are adamant about not fighting each other. one of them, if not both, need to get as far away from the welterweight division as possible unless they sign with the uFC. I say let Jake stay at WW, and Nick should focus on Middleweight…but I dont have a problem with NIck moving up to fight a top LHW.

For example: Babalu vs. Diaz would be bad ass at 205 lbs. Even better, they could probably meet at a catchweight of about 197 lbs since bablu isnt exactly a BIG LHW. Think about the grappling exchanges in a match up like that!

catchweight fights rule John. Look at Diaz’s physically this weekend, he looked phenomenal!
you got to call me bro!

I think he is getting a bit ahead of himself here. I agree with you guys he absolutly should be aplauded for his attitude, a true warrior.

However he has beaten two mediocre strikers recently using his RANGE essentially. If he jumps weight he is going to get people with his reach and stacks more power.

I like diaz at 170 and bring him to the UFC and see where his striking really is at.

Or Semtex in strikeforce… someone with some muay thai skills and genuine power.

Nick, you’ve got to recognize though that in addition to his reach, he’s become MMA’s first true volume fighter. Even guys with equal or long reach will get stiffled by his game if they don’t possess really technical striking. In order to beat him, you’ve gotta have more technical and cleaner boxing/striking (including head movement and all) as well as a great offensive wrestling with subs to match(particularly singles and doubles coz clinch takedowns don’t seem to work on him) or somewhat decent defensive wrestling. Guys in higher weight divisions rely more on power in everything and are mostly standup guys so he does benefit from a technical standpoint up until he starts facing really high level guys. For example KJ killed him simply because he was a better boxer and didn’t let him establish that range for his offensive volume and shut down his takedowns. Just my take on it!

Good anaysis as usual NNR, but “volume fighter” + small gloves + LHW big puncher = trouble for Nick.

HELLO!!! Have you guys forgotten his sick ground game! Even if someone finally gets the better out of him in the striking department, he isnt going to get out jitsed, because guys arent that well rounded that they can beat Nick at both phases of a fight. He has just become to crafty at standing and Grappling to be dominated by anyone. not to mention his under rated chin…that hasnt been cracked, or even fazed, yet!

I really want to see Dioaz vs. Babalu at a catch weight of 197 lbs.

tell me again, why I dont have a match maker job in mma? lol

His ground game is awesome john, but can he take a LHW to the mat and keep him there? I have serious doubts.

All this weight class talk has me stoked to see Wanderlei at 185 after the Franklin fight. He will be a big MW, and nobody at that weight hits like Rampage, Chuck or Cro-Cop. He could make some serious hay there if Dana doesn’t match him up with too many ground fighters.

What ever happen to Nick and the UFC? I know Dana dosen’t like him, but isn’t he worth having in the UFC? The dude always comes to fight and fights with heart all the time! He would be great to have back in the UFC now that his Stockton bro is in.
War Nick!!

Another quick thought on Wanderlei (can you tell I’m stoked for Saturday, lol):

There’s been a lot of speculation that his chin has eroded, and I’m not sure I agree… the Cro-Cop kick was brutal, Henderson has big power (and crap technique), and the Rampage left hook would have felled an adult hippopotamus… plus he ate some of Chuck’s best shots and not many guys can say that (if any?).

But if it IS true, does anyone think all that time spent training at Chute-Box had anything to do with it? Their sparring sessions were legendary and murderous, and I’ve read that Wand was a wild man when he trained with them and guys were routinely knocked out. Just a suggestion I haven’t seen before, thought I’d throw it out there for you guys to walk all over!

JJ: he cant shoot for double legs and expect to take LHW’s to the mat, but he can get them down with craft ju jitsu trips a la SHOGUN!

FOcking Wandy at Middleweight has me fired the FOck up! LIke you said, know one at middleweight is going to blast him like Cro Cop, Rampage did….Only one with that kind of dynamite is Hendo, but that is a different Hendo then the aging one thats fighting in the uFC today!

I will be furious if he is matched up against Grapplers! Let Wandy bang it out with the likes of:
Leben
Cote
Bisping
Marquardt
Kang
Wilson Goveai

Wandy vs. Sexyama would be interesting. THere striking would be great, plus wandy has dealt with world class Judokas before (the great YOSHIDA)

his BJJ black belt is better than 99% out there! when he gets anyone down, he can hold them there or take there back in a scramble!

I’ve watched him come up and have seen all his fights, I hate his fight style and I hate him, but I can’t deny his talent.

I just always root for him to lose, unfortunately outside the UFC there isn’t many that can put him down.

Kevin, I “know about his character” about as much as the general public does. I was careful not to say “he is like this,” he is like that…" Don’t you think its massively hypocritical to tell someone they are wrong for using “FROM what I know…” by refuting it with “I personally know…?” Perhaps you should be able to discern by now that such a phrase emcompasses the fact I have limited knowledge and am acknowledging it? Are you telling me you don’t like the character of ANY fighter based on fight videos, conferences, weigh-ins, and interviews?

you can tell that Nick’s a good guy..

point takem Amos, but I don’t see why he’s not likable in post fight interviews. he helps guys up, says Smith should train with them. KJ Noons beat him due to a cut, has no business being in the cage with Nick, so yeah he went nuts

nicks a solid dude. He actually personally pays the doctor bills for all his training partners. Pays for Cat scans (which arent cheap)…There is a lot more to diaz then his bad boy persona!

That I did not know, John. My respect for Diaz as a life form just went up one full notch. It currently sits at negative-five.

Kev, do you really think it’s respectful to diss a guy’s camp and suggest he’s not learning enough there after you just kicked his ass? I don’t know, man.

And you don’t think KJ belonged in the cage with Nick? Really? He looked like he belonged in there just fine to me.

Man, I’m sick of Diaz fans dismissing that KJ noons fight like it shouldn’t matter.

KJ beat the hell out of Nick, and cut up his face real bad. They stopped it due to a cut yes, was Nick on his way to winning that fight prior? Hardly. He looked like he was on his way to being TKO’d.

Would Nick beat him in a rematch? I think he would, but that doesn’t change the fact that KJ clearly got the better of him the first time.

That loss probably helped Nick a lot, he dealt with his cartilage and seemed to have improved stand up from that point onward.

he said “I wouldn’t talk shit if I didn’t know” did you miss that JJ? Scott Smith trains 20 min from Diaz! I though it was a solid thing to invite “the enemy” of that night to a “real team” atmosphere. You guys are like republicans turning that judge into a racist with 1/10 of her statement. take it for what it is, he was saying smith has talent and needs loyal guys to train with, that’s a compliment!

Kevin it was sort of a backhanded compliment, it was a compliment but he dissed Scotts whole team to do it.

He said those guys aren’t loyal or goood guys to train with.

I’ll admit, even tho he was a bit of a jerk, he was much better then usual.

Have you ever listened to any of his interviews on Sherdog radio? lol

yeah, he rambles on and on like he doesn’t want to be there. go watch some of his fights in Japan, very low keyed post fight. I agree he dissed smith’s whole team…if you’re team is 80% (training) of how you’ll perform, Smith needs to heed Diaz’s advice, he’s not exactly tearing it up. He’s losing fights for 2 and 3 rounds and getting off a lucky bomb. Why not become more well rounded instead of relying solely on that one big punch everyone knows is coming?

I actually agree with what he said about Smith and his camp. Its like they are just out to collect paychecks…No way that Smith shoudl have been fighting so soon after the grueling Radach fight. How could he have possibly been prepared for Diaz.

Look how unprepared he was in the diaz fight! Scott smith has the potential to be better than he is!

Corey Hill should fight Kyle Maynard. Their limbs are equally useful.

Ouch PW! LMAO

corey hill’s career wouldn’t be over if he had some extra weigh to protect him (meat). ww suited him better

ShaiZ is correct about height not always equalling a certain weight class. Dudes are just built differently.

And Kevin is correct about Hill being better suited for WW with a little muscle armor. Dude was way too frail and I don’t see how he can ever trust that leg in a fight again. Shame.

I agree that Corey would be better suited to WW, but my point still stands, WW is a far cry from HW.

Diaz’s frame doesnt support 205 naturally.

Even MW is a stretch.

MW is a stretch? were we watching and looking at the same fighter on sat?

JJ you got to wonder if that leg break will be in the back of Corey’s mind every time he throws a kick.

lol, you guys actually think he’ll fight again?

lol, Alves would brutilize him but not GSP. Neither would, but you got it backwards right syn?

Both guys would hurt him bad, but Alves would do it standing while GSP would do most of it on the ground dropping bombs.

Yeah i don’t see how you can say that “neither would”,kev!

I think Alves’s stand up, and leg kicks in particularly would be a big problem for Diaz. Power leg kicks isn’t something GSP has. He’s more of a quick striker. His ground and pound isn’t exactly devastating either. It kind of reflects Diaz’s stand up in the sense that is not super powerful, but eventually all those punches add up. The Fitch fight he beat him up downright, but GSP’s gnp in the Penn fight was pitter patter it seemed to me. I could only bare to watch it that one time live, so I may be wrong.

He dropped some big shots on BJ when he postured up, Syn.

“GSP GnP isn’t exactly devastating” Just go tell that to Sherk Syn.I’m sure he will agree with you!

ehh.. like I said, I haven’t watched it since it happened. My bad on the weak arguement.