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By now there's been enough ink spilled about Nate Diaz's shocking win over Conor McGregor last weekend at UFC 196 in Las Vegas, plenty of it from your humble narrator.
But what you might not have realized is that the finish propelled Diaz into the top five most finishes in promotional history for the UFC, and second most for a lightweight/welterweight fighter.
Jordan Newmark of UFC.com breaks down the greatest finishers in UFC history (bold text for active fighters):
| Fighter | Country | Finishes | Knockouts | Submissions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson Silva | Brazil | 14 | 11 | 3 |
| Vitor Belfort | Brazil | 14 | 12 | 2 |
| Matt Hughes | USA | 13 | 8 | 5 |
| Frank Mir | USA | 13 | 5 | 8 |
| Nate Diaz | USA | 11 | 2 | 9 |
| Andrei Arlovski | Belarus | 11 | 9 | 2 |
| Matt Brown | USA | 11 | 9* | 2 |
| Randy Couture | USA | 11 | 7 | 4 |
| Gabriel Gonzaga | Brazil | 11 | 7 | 4 |
| Royce Gracie | Brazil | 11 | 0 | 11** |
| Joe Lauzon | USA | 11 | 3 | 8 |
| B.J. Penn | USA | 11 | 7 | 4 |
| Donald Cerrone | USA | 10 | 5 | 5 |
| Kenny Florian | USA | 10 | 2 | 8 |
| Rich Franklin | USA | 10 | 9 | 1 |
| Anthony Johnson | USA | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Chuck Liddell | USA | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Tito Ortiz | USA | 10 | 8 | 2 |
* - Welterweight record
** - UFC record
With nine submissions, Diaz is two away from tying the record set by the legendary Royce Gracie. He needs just one more finish to secure fifth spot all for himself on the all-time list.
As you can see from the above list there are quite a few fighters looking to move up the ladder in the near future. Arlovski would love to get his 12th finish when he takes on Alistair Overeem at UFC Rotterdam on May 8, Mir wants number 14 against the durable Mark Hunt at UFC Brisbane on March 20, and Belfort will look to move into first place with 15 finishes when he takes on "Jacare" Ronaldo Souza at UFC 198 in Brazil.
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