Monday Morning Black Belt
by kevjack115 on Sep 6, 2010 10:47 AM EDT
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Print"Whatever (the UFC) want(s) to do with me, I’m fine. I’d like to get someone in the top three contenders at either lightweight or welterweight rather than against some tough guy that’s not as popular or not as high in the rankings. I want to try and get a belt here sometime."He's definitely a talented fighter and has the confidence needed to be a top contender, but what road is better suited for him? At Lightweight he is bigger, taller and slicker of his back then probably every other fighter at that division. His stand up is average in my opinion, but is improving with every fight, and he just out boxed Marcus Davis, who happens to be a former professional boxer and who I picked to beat Diaz at 118. I'd say a fight with Kenny Florian would be a great test ay LW, both have great BJJ and the stand up is about even. Florian is a perennial contender and if Nate could get the win it would definitely put him in title contention. Now a fight with someone like BJ Penn may be fun too, but that would be like throwing a Chihuahua into a lion pit at the zoo, we already know the outcome, but he'd be getting what he asked for and we'd be able to see where he really stands. WW is a different story. A guy like Thiago Alves is too big and strong for him, John Fitch is strong enough to nullify Nate's BJJ and to make a title run would also include a fight against teammate and good friend Jake Shields. I guess the fight that would make most sense, if he would take a fight with a guy in the top 10 instead of top 3 would be Matt Hughes. The aging Hughes has looked great as of late and is definitely back in the mix. His wrestling is great and his BJJ defense and offense is second to none. The only other competitive fight against a "name" I see being good is Matt Serra. Serra has BETTER BJJ than Diaz and also has very good stand up. He's fighting Chris Lytle at 119 so would be ready by New years for this fight. Bottom line is this, the top dogs at WW are all wrestlers that are much bigger as far as body type goes than Diaz is. The other obstacle is that they all have great wrestling pedigrees. In my humble opinion, LW is the best shot for Diaz as he is slick of his back and would have a big reach advantage over all of the contenders in that division. Also the majority of contenders right now at LW would be willing to stand with him where Nate's Reach would be the deciding factor. I'm not convinced he's as talented as the other guys from Caesar Gracie's camp, but he looks better every time he fights and he is slowly making me a fan. I think his mouth is why he is the only fighter from Gracie's camp that I don't 100% support, but with post fight talks (with Rogan) like the one at 118, and his hard working never say die attitude every time out, it's really hard to not root for him. Who do you think and at what weight class do you think he has the best shot of making a title run?
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Personally I think it was a foolish move for him to go to 170
He wanted someplace to run after he lost his fights at LW against guys who controlled him using wrestling so he goes to a division with even better, stronger wrestlers and starts talking about a title shot. Pure idiocy. Granted he says with not having to make the cut he feels stronger but he hasn’t anything to his own frame. I personally didn’t agree with the dec. Gray got and Clay’s decision was a joke (I won’t turn this into one of my Guida hate rants.) He should’ve stayed at 155 if he wants that rematch with Maynard.
by Mayhem chimpanzee on Sep 6, 2010 11:06 AM EDT reply actions
Nate is no Nick
He’ll get smashed by top guys at WW and top guys at LW. WHY? Because theyre all TOP wrestlers. End of story. Stick to fighting guys like Marcus Davis and Johnathon Goulet. and put on some muscle you fairy fuck lookin twelve year old. This guy is SO overrated.
-It's Better To Be Judged By Twelve Than Carried By Six-
(In the name of the SouthCaliStunNa, amen)
by *Californication* on Sep 6, 2010 11:27 AM EDT reply actions
And Nick was average at WW in the UFC...
How does Nate even put himself into ANY title picture, losing 3 of his last 6? He beat the three guys he should have beaten (although I would take Guillard in a rematch since his move to Jax) and lost to the guys he should have lost to (at the time).
Has he EVER beaten anyone in the top 10 in either division? This guy should fight, and lose, to Karo in his second fight back. Then he will realize he sucks at 170 and 155 because he can’t wrestle and can’t defend TD’s.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning." - Albert Einstein
Diaz vs Penn?
Is that crazy? Penn is no dominant wrestler.
The only real possession you'll ever have is your character. — Tom Wolfe
Penn is still top lightweight right?
Right?
The only real possession you'll ever have is your character. — Tom Wolfe
good fight
if youre talking NICK diaz.
Nate in their with Penn is laughable
-It's Better To Be Judged By Twelve Than Carried By Six-
(In the name of the SouthCaliStunNa, amen)
by *Californication* on Sep 6, 2010 11:57 AM EDT up reply actions
My point exactly. Let's do it for the lulz.
Seeing Penn beat Nate would be fun. The opposite would also be a lot of fun.
The only real possession you'll ever have is your character. — Tom Wolfe
BJ would School Nate in all parts of the sport. So set it up. But I know they are friends so good luck making that fight though Joe.
August 28th was an emotional day for me. Two events occurred that brought me to my knees:
1. BJ Penn lost to Frankie Edgar for the second time, proving to me that he is nowhere near the caliber of man that I made him out to be.
2. I found out that the cardio portion of Frankie Edgar’s training camp consisted of Frankie banging my mom while the arm.bar.bandit played the spanish guitar and sang "Eye of the tiger" by Survivor.
did you edit this?
or did Mania
-It's Better To Be Judged By Twelve Than Carried By Six-
(In the name of the SouthCaliStunNa, amen)
by *Californication* on Sep 6, 2010 2:43 PM EDT up reply actions
yup they have trained together before hes cool with the diaz brothers
August 28th was an emotional day for me. Two events occurred that brought me to my knees:
1. BJ Penn lost to Frankie Edgar for the second time, proving to me that he is nowhere near the caliber of man that I made him out to be.
2. I found out that the cardio portion of Frankie Edgar’s training camp consisted of Frankie banging my mom while the arm.bar.bandit played the spanish guitar and sang "Eye of the tiger" by Survivor.
get in the mania fantasy football pool guys, kev, i know your busy, just rank your guys and it auto picks, bjpenn fan, cali, ulf, get in it before the lurkers fill it up...
Previously DrewMoney$$$ "banned from sbnation" ...
by DetroitDrew1980 on Sep 6, 2010 4:28 PM EDT up reply actions
I would love too, but I am in three already.
I would be worse than a lurker as I would completely ignore this one…sorry.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning." - Albert Einstein
come on its the mania one. this takes president
Previously DrewMoney$$$ "banned from sbnation" ...
by DetroitDrew1980 on Sep 6, 2010 4:57 PM EDT up reply actions
Drew, come tomorrow if more regulars want in, I just might have to bounce a few, or simply expand the league
I AM SOMETIMES BIASED - Get over it!!!!!!!
ok im in
what time was the draft again?
August 28th was an emotional day for me. Two events occurred that brought me to my knees:
1. BJ Penn lost to Frankie Edgar for the second time, proving to me that he is nowhere near the caliber of man that I made him out to be.
2. I found out that the cardio portion of Frankie Edgar’s training camp consisted of Frankie banging my mom while the arm.bar.bandit played the spanish guitar and sang "Eye of the tiger" by Survivor.
You don't just go from Marcus Davis...
…to Kenny Florian. Kenny’s Thai boxing is on a higher level than Nate’s unorthodox boxing (Diaz style?) and although I consider their JJ skills to be fairly close, Kenny is a much more mature fighter who (generally) gameplans better for fights. Nate’s not ready for a top 3 at either weight.
by NicktheBruiser on Sep 6, 2010 1:41 PM EDT up reply actions
I think Nate will have the same problem at either LW or WW . . .
being beaten by strong positional wrestlers. His striking did look much improved against Davis (but Davis also looked all of his 37 years), but if he can’t defend takedowns the wrestlers at the top of each division can win decisions against him. I would like to see a rematch between him and Maynard at some point since their last fight ended in a controversial decision and a stand-up or ground fight would be interesting. Whatever he decides to do he needs to really focus on his wrestling, and I’m not sure he has the discipline to improve there as much as he needs to. But I do think a fight with Hughes at WW would be interesting stylistically and could be a great opportunity for each guy.
"Before I do anything I ask myself, "Would an idiot do that?" And if the answer is yes, I do not do that thing." - Dwight Schrute
170
Nate’s too big for 155 now and rather than dehydrating himself in a struggle to make the cut he should be focusing on bulking up his slender frame and improving on his wrestling as well as continuing to build on his good boxing and great BJJ skills.
Time is on Nate’s side to make a big impact at 170, it wasn’t that long ago when Nick was the cocky youngster who always got beat by better wrestlers and look how much he has improved since his UFC spell. Nate has the talent and work ethic to do the same if given time but flip-flopping between weight classes will only hurt his ability to build momentum in a weight class more suited to his size and won’t allow him to develop his strength and conditioning to the levels that it needs to be to challenge the elite of either division.
He’s looked superb against aging strikers Davis and Markham, now it’s time for Nate to build on these displays by taking on a better opponent. I’d like to see him take on the Hardy-Condit loser or the Karo-Hallman winner depending on who is available earlier, maybe even Hughes or Kampmann if he loses to Shields.
"Stay classy San Diego"
Jon "Bones" Jones, MMAs best young fighter and the next LHW champion
name a wrestler that Nick has beaten since leaving the UFC?
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning." - Albert Einstein
Mach
And the only guy who has beaten Nick since he left was KJ by cuts and he has the chance to avenge that defeat next month. Other than that Nick has beaten everybody who he has faced and done so decisively, he may not have faced the caliber of wrestler that is in the UFC but that doesn’t make it right to bash the guy for fights that he lost years ago at a young age.
"Stay classy San Diego"
Jon "Bones" Jones, MMAs best young fighter and the next LHW champion
Shame that the Diaz-Hieron fight never happened
Jay really got screwed over by SF there.
"Stay classy San Diego"
Jon "Bones" Jones, MMAs best young fighter and the next LHW champion
yup maybe they were afraid of jay beating nick.
If i had to guess, i’d say they were and they didn’t wanna risk one of their “names” losing, cause everybody knows that the way to make it in the business is doing like the UFC does and like Pride did back in the day, hyping up names and promoting their “guys” that they want to succeed with stylistic dream match-ups so they’ll be recognized by the public. . It’s really easy to manipulate fans like that , the general public is not gonna know that the unknown fighter is better than your star , simply because the organization choses not to give him the same chance for different reasons.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic !
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