It’s official … almost.
The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Season 5 winner Nate Diaz (9-2) will face Josh “The Dentist” Neer (24-6-1) at Ultimate Fight Night 15 (UFN 15) on Wednesday, September 17.
The lightweight fight will take place at the Omaha Civic Auditorium (10,000 fan capacity), and will either be the main event or co-main event for the evening. Like the other UFNs, it will air free on Spike TV at 9:00 p.m ET.
Yesterday, MMAmania.com confirmed the venue and location for UFN 14. Graciefighter.com also confirmed that the fight contracts have been signed.
Diaz is riding a four fight win streak (all four by way of submission). His last fight against Kurt Pellegrino at UFN 13 was an extremely technical (and entertaining) jiu-jitsu clinic put on by both fighters. After the fight, Diaz asked the UFC to step up his level of competition, going so far as to call out Tyson Griffin, who once trained with Diaz under Cesar Gracie.
Looks like Diaz will first have to get through Neer if he wants a piece of Griffin.
A five-year veteran of the sport, Neer is no slouch on the ground or on his feet —- 10 of his wins have come via submission, with 10 more coming via (T)KO. After posting a 2-3 record in the UFC, Neer won 6 of 7 fights outside the promotion before returning to the Octagon and defeating Din Thomas by unanimous decision at UFN 13.
In addition to Thomas, Neer holds wins over UFC veterans Joe Stevenson, Melvin Guillard and Forrest Petz.
Neer lost to Nick Diaz, big brother to Nate, via kimura in the third round back at UFC 62. Nick Diaz was the last person to have submitted Neer. Taking out Nick’s little brother might be redemption enough for the Miletich fighter.
UFN 15 will also see Omaha native Houston Alexander (8-3) take on Eric “Red” Schafer (9-3-2) in a light heavyweight bout. Middleweights Ed Herman (14-6) and Alan Belcher (12-5) will also meet.
To check out the most recent UFN 15 card click here.
58 Comments »
I personally think Nate Diaz should be fighting Manny Gamburyan. I’d much rather see a rematch of that fight. Imo, Gamburyan was the real winner, but anything can happen in MMA.
Agree, I’d also love to see him fight Tyson but I think he already has a fight coming up
Tyson stated that he does not want to fight Nate , because he believs that he is above him in the rankings.but i disagree , i think that Nate is right on the same level with Tyson.
manny has to earn a rematch with Nate.
How do you figure, it’s not like Diaz is the champ and fighters have to “earn” a fight with him. Manny has won 2 in a row at LW, Neer has won once(albeit against a good fighter). If anything I don’t think Neer deserves the fight.
Nate is trying to fight guys that will move him up the 155 ladder. I agree a rematch with Manny would be good, but it wont move Diaz up. If Nate wins he stays in the same spot, but if he looses then it drops him way back down. Manny needs to catch up with quality opponents.
i agree i do think manny kinda got screwed out of his finale contract. but i think nate knows that an he is really trying to earn that win by taking on as many top tier fighters as possible.i dont think manny has the record to get his rematch yet.nate has really passed him in the rankings. plus manny needs to get his game straigh and stop trying to cheat.
Do you think fighting Neer will move him up the ladder more so then a fight with Manny? Personally, I would be more impressed with a win against Manny then Neer. I agree that Nate would fall way down if he lost against Manny, but he would against Neer as well. Either way I would rather see Nate fight Tyson.
Haze, I think Neer would move Diaz up more than Manny. I just looked up Neer’s fight record, he been in there with some good competition ( Nick Diaz, Din, Burkman, Joe daddy, Fisher, and Fickett. In Manny’s record, the only fighter I recognize is Sherk.
The Match up that I want to see is:
Nate Diaz vs. Mac Danzig
Dam that would be a good fight. Danzig would really test Diaz.
I’ve been saying that since Danzig won the ultimate fighter. It would be an awesome fight. I’d probibly rather see Nate vs Gray now though. Gray beat Frank Edgar and Diaz beat Kurt Pelligrino. Even though Neer beat Din Thomas I still think Gray and Nate are on a higher level.
Hope diaz loses. Can’t stand him or his brother
Yeah, I can’t stand their attitudes. They both have alot of growing up to do. (So do I though, :P)
i hate watching nate fight! the man gets his ass kick the entire fight, then throws up a submission, locks it in, and wins. don’t get me wrong nate’s a good fighter, but it pisses me off how he wins. and i hope neer submits him.
You probably hate a legend like Big Nog too, huh?
great point! actually i like Big Nog. but Big Nog doesn’t win all of his fights by getting he ass kicked. idk i just don’t like nate diaz. Big Nog doesn’t talk a bunch a shit and say he’s a bad ass. nate talks his shit and still gets his ass handed to him (before he gets the submission). the whole flicking off the camera when he got the triangle on batman really pissed me off!
I feel you but you have to understand where he’s coming from man.
I know the area he is from and it isn’t the friendliest place to grow up so it’s no surprise if he and his brother are cocky.
I personally loved the flip off to the camera lol.
Me too.
Cocky: yes, confident:yes, entertaining: hell yeah, funny: hell yeah.
simply put: LOVED IT! cant wait to see him fight again…
both nate and nick are freakin’ awesome!
… nate by second round submission.
two of my favorite fighters
Nate shouldn’t be fighting Manny until he loses a fight.
Think about it, sure Manny “may have” won the contract, who knows. Every fight Nate has been in he didn’t exactly start off strong.
But here’s my reasoning. Joe Lauzon and Gray Maynard have both already gotten title contenders for opponents in Frankie Edgar and Kenny Florian. Nate won the show and he deserves the big fights right now. Let him get his first loss then fight Manny.
Either way though, I agree that Manny vs Nate needs to happen sooner or later to clear a few things up just like Bisping vs Hamill had to happen(even though this isn’t completely solved yet).
Aside from all of this, I take Nate by submission in the second on this but have a ton of respect for Neer.
I don’t think Nate vs. Neer is all that fair to Nate, but if he can beat Neer he’s setting himself up to get a shot at Griffin or even the loser of Huerta vs. Florian. I’d also like to see Maynard vs. Manny.
Exactly.
Neer has wins over big names so a win over him should get Nate to the upper level of competition.
i think that the Dentist will rough Nate up for a while until Nate can pull off a Sub.
agreed. Just another day at the office for Diaz.
I think this is the first time I have ever seen someway say they WANT to see Manny fight.
Mania, any idea when tickets go on sale?
dana needs to bring nick back,,so the diaz bros can kick sum ass 2gether…by the way who the hell does tyson think he is sounds to me like he knows it catch an ass whooping by my boy nate
after my boy beats down neer then maybe he can get tyson or the loser of ken-flo and huerta,,or how bout the steroid shark
i know dana hates nick and i think he is the one keeping down nate jus cause nick doesnt kiss his ass like chuck or randy hgh or fat bj
that is by far the most conspiring comment yet…keeping nate down? nate has been givin the fights he has been wanting. he asked for kurt and he got it and did well..as for being able to beat huerta,ken-flo or sherk…not right now. nate would get destroyed. those 3 men have an very well layed ground game and amazing bjj defense. nate will have his time in he future he has what it take to be a champ. he is just touched the tip of the iceberg with kurt in the LW division. no sense in trying to take on the big dawgs that soon. but i give him props for wanting it so fast.
thats assuming Tyson Griffin wins. He has a tall task in front of him at UFC 86. Marcus Aurelio is a tough competitor who holds a win over Japanese superstar Takanori Gomi, a man widley considered among the best in the world.
I think half of you all do not know what you are talking about when it comes to Josh Neer. He has won his past 6 out of 7, he has a victory over Joe Stevenson and Din Thomas, two of the best 155 pounders in the UFC. He has lost to Josh Burkman and Nate Diaz inside the octagon.
Neer is a tough of as nails kid, that will bring the heat and will not get caught easily in a submission. I see this being a bad fight for Nate Diaz. I think if Neer wins he pushes himself up into the top 6 lightweights in the UFC.
agreed! i like Neer and don’t understand why he isn’t getting the respect he’s earned by the internet fans.
word! lol, i’ve always wanted to say that!
i would be surprised if neer catches nate with a submission. neer wins by heel hook in the 1st round! thats right… i said heel hook. lol!
i mean “i WOULDN’T be surprised” my bad!
i agree 100%. i just don’t see diaz having the maturity or experience to win against the big dogs. i say neer takes this one too.
this is a terrible matchup stylewise for Neer. Nate is taller and has reach advantage over Neer AND Nate has superior ground game all day every day.
win or lose i would like to see the Dentist in a rematch with Joe daddy Stevenson.they un officially agreed to it do it at 155 , because the 1st fight was at 170.
I think this is an awesome fight. Who doesn’t like the history here? Nate’s brother Nick put an all-around beat down on Josh Neer back at 62 and now he gets his chance for revenge on Nick’s little brother, awesome!
If Neer loses, is there a third Diaz in High School he could fight?
High School, LMAO!!!!!
This is such a great fight. Looking forward to this big time. Both fighters are awesome. Nate will sub Josh or it’s a Neer decision.
hey guys talking about fight night 14 i know sum ifo i need to pass along…there is a big super fight the winner gets brock lesnar on the new years eve ppv,,it will b the return of justin eilers vs tha manic Hispanic my boy eddie sanchez how do i know u ask….well me and my boy eddie were eating at chilli’s when mr.joe silva called and offered him the fight
eddie is so pumped after he got off the phone he took his shot of jack and threw it through the place..justin eilers has no shot ive been training wit eddie and the man has ko strenght and his bjj is getting top notch,,,justin is gonna end up like that shot glass…busted up
jason lambert said that eddie has the makings of the next big star in the ufc
Eddie is a decent fighter. I hope Eilers knocks him out though..if this is true.
called eddie a “decent fighter” is giving him far too much credit.
Why do you guys believe anything this douche says? Sanchez just got KTFO and Eilers isn’t even in the UFC anymore…
Hey man this is legit…I just heard about it too…Jason Lambert had it posted on his blog..I hope the Manic Hispanic kills him!!! Eilers just got resigned to a two fight deal
I guess when I heard super fight, followed by Eilers and Sanchez, well you know.
Nate by his unique triangle where instead of pulling his opponents head down he throws his arms in the air to celebrate his victory before the opponents tap
Whats up with Danas big announcement I thought it was ganna be made today
I want to see Karo drop down to 155 and fight Nate.
The UFC can certainly hype that fight up, after what happened on TUF.
Karo is too fat and lazy too ever make 155.
How funny would it be to see Nate submitting Karo, giving him both middle fingers and yelling,”No, do you know who I am, b*tch?!”
Mania: Do you know where we can see this big announcement the UFC is making?
The announcement got moved to Tuesday
Nate via Arm Bar 3rd round
I was thinking Dana might have given in to the Spiders request of fighting Jones, but this does not really have anything to do the direction of the UFC in the next 5 years. I hope whatever it is, it’s worth all this drama.
Neer will defeat Diaz. How do I know, you ask? Because the majority of posters on the Underground Forum are picking Diaz, and they are usually dead wrong. Mark my words.