Wrestling is widely regarded as the best base for mixed martial arts. It also happens to be the exact skill "The Kid from Stockton" struggles with the most.
Sure enough, Dong Hyun Kim came in with a gameplan to stifle Nate Diaz and that's exactly what he did, earning a unanimous decision win after three rounds (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
It was clear from the early going exactly how the fight was going to play out -- "Stun Gun" was going to work for the takedown while Diaz would see if he could pull off a submission from the bottom.
Diaz certainly spent a large portion of the fight attempting to do just that, but he just couldn't do it.
Kim employed an attack similar to what you would see from Chael Sonnen: Takedowns followed by a lot of activity on top that did very little damage.
A few times throughout the contest Diaz would roll out and get back to his feet, but each time, Kim would drag him right back down.
There was a bit of controversy in the final frame as Diaz appeared to land an illegal knee. But it didn't matter because Kim -- despite sustaining some punishment with a minute left in the fight -- essentially cruised his way to a unanimous decision win to remain perfect as a professional fighter.
It's now time for him to mix it up with the top dogs ... not a lightweight.