The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season 5 winner Nate Diaz (6-2) will take on two-time UFC veteran Junior Assuncao (5-2) at UFC Fight Night 11 at The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 19, according to GracieFighter.com.
Nate Diaz won the TUF 5 finale when opponent Manvel Gamburyan was forced to tap after a freak shoulder injury.
While this bout is by no means a stinker, there’s still some unfinished business between Diaz and Gamburyan.
Prior to tapping, Gamburyan had dominated much of the fight, and the usually wily Diaz was never able to mount much of an offense.
Some fans question as to whether or not Diaz would have prevailed if Gamburyan had not been injured.
That’s a tempting “what if” scenario, but like we saw against Corey Hill, a fighter with jiu-jitsu like Diaz should never be counted out.
Junior Assuncao lost his UFC debut to the always-dangerous Kurt Pellegrino at UFC 64, but quickly bounced back with a submission win over David Lee at UFC 70.
Like most lightweight battles, this should be a fast-paced and exciting bout. I’m also interested to see how Diaz performs in a division that’s as deep as this one.
For more on the upcoming UFC Fight Night 11 click here.
19 Comments »
Why does everyone say Manvel “dominated”? It seemed to me like he just layed on him while Diaz tried for different submissions.
Regardless, I look forward to seeing Nate submit this guy, and then “dominating” his next fight against Manvel.
I agree. Manny Gamby is an angry little blanket. Like a British hooker, he just lays on top of people and does just enough to keep from being stood up.
Good thing I am not the only one that thinks Manny just sits there. Someone needs to tell him its not a wrestling match. I think Manny is great and can get alot of decisions in the matches to come if his shoulder ever can hold up.
Diaz has a different ground game. Hes smart and isnt gonna fight the same fight as his opponent. It was just a matter of time when he would get Manny in a submission.
diaz is a bad dude personally i think he needs a little more strentgh training then he will be even badder but again i like nick better haha well see how little brother does.
Whatever, Manny did a lot more than Diaz did in that fight. And he won the Wiman fight because he punched more. He at least punches when he’s on top, unlike say, Koscheck. Diaz is lispy trash.
Man, whats this for, best Jay Leno chin?
Honestly, who cares. Diaz didnt really impress me outside of getting his ass whooped and pulling off a submission on Hill. Im sure with any top 10 155lber from the UFC, he will be KTFO or submitted.
I really hope that Diaz wins this. I’d be upset he if loses his first fight after winning TUF. Does anyone know if Nick Diaz’s weed suspension will be up by the time this UFN takes place? That way he’d be able to corner his brother.
With a shoulder that pops out that easily Manny is lucky to finish any of his matches.
Whats up w/ both of the brothers having that LITHP????! lol
I see Nate Diaz being very successful in the UFC. This should serve as a good fight. My prediction is Diaz by sub. via 2nd round
I’m saying the other guys win via KO, just because.
Nate needs more time and training before he will be able to hang with the top LW’s. Maybe he should go up a weightclass. I dont know much about Assuncao so i dont know how this fights gonna go.
[quote comment=”107930″]Why does everyone say Manvel “dominated”? It seemed to me like he just layed on him while Diaz tried for different submissions.
Regardless, I look forward to seeing Nate submit this guy, and then “dominating” his next fight against Manvel.[/quote]
Yeah i’m not a fan of Manny he seems to play the blanket game.
[quote comment=”107997″]I really hope that Diaz wins this. I’d be upset he if loses his first fight after winning TUF. [/quote]
I wouldn’t say that Diaz won TUF, but he just didn’t lose.
[quote post=”2778″]I wouldn’t say that Diaz won TUF, but he just didn’t lose. [/quote]
I’d have to disagree. Nate won 3 fights previous to the Manny fight, and looked impressive in all of them. Of course one can argue that he didnt’t look overly impressive against Corey Hill because he kinda got tossed around, but Hill is 6 foot 6 and probably cuts a good amount of weight. Even in situations where Natewas getting pounded on against Maynard while being on the bottom postion on the ground, he easily and quickly pulled off submission after submission until he got him to tap for the submission victorie. Do not underestimate BJJ specialists while they are on their backs, and have thier opppenant in thier guard. And remember that Nate is just a kid. He just turned 22. He is still considered a baby in this game. He has tons of time to build some muscle mass and improve on every aspect of mma.
Nate had nothing but tough fights on the show, maynard-hill-emerson-manvill. This kid is fuckin tough like his brother and shares the same attitude. This sport is not bodybuilding so who cares what he looks like and as far as his lisp goes…it never seemed to bother Mike Tyson when he knocked out his first 15 opponents. This kid is going to do great. I’m a big fan of the Diaz brothers.
look manny is a tough guy, but unfortunately he is not fun to watch ,like his cousin karo. who is one of my favorites to watch but a complete a hole as a person.
manny really does just take people down put his head on their chest and attempt to wing these weak little love pats from the outside and his short little arms really dont even reach their target 90 percent of the time. hes just a little bulldog who is good at holding people down, he has good hips and an exellent base. if he was just a few inches taller he would be the man to beat i think but unfortunately hes not; therefore hes not at all fun to watch fight…boring
Junior is going to destroy Diaz!!! Go JR!!!!!
I can’t wait to see you cry after Jr knocks this wanna be out… You can’t teach tough… Jr knocked a very good fighter out after having his other arm broke in a fight..