The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 5 lightweight winner Nate Diaz will likely not compete inside the Octagon again in 2008 and will instead look to earn a spot on the UFC 94 main card, which is scheduled for the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 31.
His trainer, Cesar Gracie, recently relayed the news via his gym’s official Web site, adding that a rumored bout against Clay Guida at TUF 8 Finale on December 12 had fallen through because of a recent foot injury sustained by “The Carpenter” in training.
Here’s a snip:
“With every viable UFC contender having already been paired for fights in the next couple of months it became clear that Diaz would not have an opponent ready for the rest of 2008. Nothing has been signed as of yet, however we are hoping to see Nathan fight early in 2009.”
Diaz has been nothing short of brilliant inside the cage since his stint on TUF, stopping four out of his five most recent opponents and defeating them all. He most recently headlined UFC Fight Night 15 last month against Josh Neer and the two put on an action-packed three-round show for the fans.
He’s clearly ready to graduate and take on the top contenders in the 155-pound division in 2009. Diaz’s mixed martial arts skills are well beyond his 23 years on this planet — he appears to get better and better each time out.
It’s scary.
UFC 94 will feature the welterweight superfight between former 170-pound champion and current lightweight kingpin BJ Penn versus reigning welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, as well as the highly anticipated showdown between light heavyweight unbeatens Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva.
To check out the latest UFC 94 fight card and rumors click here.
70 Comments »
Anybody have any ideas on his opponent? This will be his first fight not on spike TV.
true, and I read he had an exclusive contract with spike.
Too bad to, I like nate as a fighter!
Kev, you and this claim of yours was the first thing that popped in my head when I read the headline!
yeah, john mentioned that he heard the same thing, mania, did you have an article that nate had a spoke contract?
I wish I remember where I read it
you did read it though right john?
hey I’m hearing cun le/anderson silva summer 09. remember the video I put up a few months ago where cung le was here in fremont (10 min from san jose) saying strike force and UFC were in talks and dana was willing to take him on loan for a night. I got silva…who you guys got?
Silva of course. this Asian will be the first to get crushed by a Spider.
TYSON GRIFFIN!!!! if he is not suspended after the sherk battle
Griffin has been ducking him the whole year, ever since Nate called him out.
Guida
Griffin just lost. Nate is on a nice win streak. I would like to see him fight Tyson, but I would also like to see him fight someone that would catapult him higher up in the division.
However, I see Griffin or Huerta being the most likely candidates to be Nate’s next victim
I would love to see diaz fight huerta its a win win situation for the ufc, both have star power both have quality wins and both are at about the same point in their careers being real close but not yet quite at the top of the division. The winner would move up a step and if it is a close competitive fight neither one will really take a step back plus both have big fan bases.
I also would love to see diaz fight the winner of florian/stevenson. I think nate can hold his own with anybody and both this guys like to take the fight to the ground an i think nate has the best bjj in the lightweight division outside of penn, i also think he has better standup then both of these fighters, i think if he wins this fight he is a top contender and if he loses he stock really wouldnt drop at all.plus i would love to see him submit florian the guy became so cocky and arrogant after finishing second tier fighters
Facing the winner of Florian/Stevenson is a little too high up the ladder for Nate. Heck, even the loser of that fight may be a little too high for Nate right now…
i dont think so, nate is 5-0 in the ufc and has beaten better guys than both of them, who has kenny beat? din thomas a ufc fallout, alvin robinson, 1-2 in the ufc, mishima who never won a fight in the ufc, lauzon who was not ready to headline a card, and huerta who i like as a fighter but he had not beaten any top contenders. Who has stevenson beat, pelligrino and so has nate,melvin the coke head, yves edwards a ufc fallout, and joe lossed to josh neer a man nate just beat. So i dont know how you can say they are a step ahead of nate, I think nate could outstrike both and he could definitely hold his on the ground against any lightweight in the world, i think these fights would be extremely competitive and evenly matched. If u disagree please tell me why!
I think Nate would have a better chance against Stevenson than Florian. I disagree that his stand up is better than both, Florian has very solid muay thai and is a much more technical striker than Nate. But I would never count Nate out, because that was supposed to be the case when he fought Rob Emerson on TUF and he won a fight that was mostly stand up. I think Tyson Griffin and Roger Huerta would be better candidates at this point, especially since he would have to wait a while for either Stevenson or Florian.
Nate/Huerta maybe? Who else is there?
Huerta or Griffin would be my first suggestions. The winner of Edgar/Wiman would also be a good opponent. I don’t think he’s ready for Florian or Sherk yet.
Huerta would be good or maybe even Guida.
I say to give Nate a rematch of his WEC fight with Hermes Franca
When I read about this story earlier it said that DIAZ would be on the undercard of this event. could that be true? Sure hope not!
Have him fight Gray Maynard good wrestling but now he will have to work because if he takes Nate too the mat he will be in danger with subs, both undefeated in the UFC.
Good call. Maynard would be a good battle.
I like johns idea to face him against Franca. If not Franca then put him against Huerta. Put him up against any real striker so he can be tested on his feet. Franca has a decent ground game and Huerta has some good wrestling skills and an unbelieable skill to spin out of bad situations. Both guys would be comfortable dealing with the smaller Nate on the ground but would try to force the stand up. A better test than to pin him against any GnP wrestlers who would playing into Nate’s submission game.
I’m not really interested in seeing a Maynard/Diaz rematch (Diaz submitted Maynard on TUF) right now. Diaz is deserving of an opponent a little higher up the ladder then Maynard.
Clay Guida
Huerta is not on his level- Fighting 6 guys making their debut doesn’t make anyone a challenger. Nick should fight Tyson. There is beef and they could headline a fight night.
let him whoop up on Mac Danzig!
when are edgar and wiman fighting?
Diaz vs Sherk or Griffin makes the most sense.
That would leave them guys only 3 months to heal up and get back to training.
Really? Sherk makes sense if you want to feed him Nate. Its unwise to put a new fighter up against a former champion, sure its good practice but that fighter gets torn to shreds. Nate against Huerta would be much better and safer for Nate.
yeah I think Sherk will destroy Nate at this point. I’m not a Diaz bros fan but it wouldn’t make sense for this fight at this point in Nates career.
Nate vs Huerta would be an awesome match. Can you imagine the scrambles that fight would have? I think El Matador would be able to outwork him to a decision though.
I agree that my thoughts would have Huerta winning that fight either by TKO or decision. Although the reason I’m so interested in that fight is because I know Nate would be able to end the fight at anytime with a submission so its not entirely one sided.
yeah definitely. either guy could end it at any point… and fights like that most the time go to a decision. Seems weird, but remember how everyone was saying Liddell/Silva would end in a KO? (btw, i thought it woulda been a dec) The same with AA/Sylvia 3, and Faber/Pulver (not necessarily a KO, but a finish nonetheless). So I’m sticking to a decision for Huerta.
If this matchup is indeed going on 94 or even 93, then that will be one stacked card.
guys this says Nat not Nick… this is Nates older brother.. he will fight at 170
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sorry Im worng i got it backwords
KJ Noons? lol
I’d like to see Huerta kick the lisp out of his mouth
aw. wonder what’s up w/guida and his next fight.
I was under the impression that Guida was going to fight Pelligrino.
try reading the article, hes injured.
k.j. noons perhaps. that oughtta stir up the pot.
LOL! I wouldnt mind seeing that fight! Nate is a way better version of Nick!
That would be awesome!
i agree. ive said for a long time that nate will be better than nick ever was or will be. i think right now he could possibly be better than nick. im a big fan of nate’s and think he can be the lw champ once b.j. moves on. nick will still have some good fights and make alot of bank, but he wont be close to being a champ, unless another org make sone for him. love nate, cant stand nick, wierd huh?
I cant stand either one of them, but I think Nate is just a lighter version of Nick. Nates just untested as of yet. Nick has fought some of the best in the world, and done so-so. I think Nate fares the same way once he fiughts guys of top caliber.
It is only a matter of time before the entire Diaz family gets busted for failing drug tests due to pot smoking.
Whats your point? Its not like that is a performance enhancing drug. Stop pushing your views onto others!
It’s not performance-enhancing but it’s illegal. The law says so.
Look, I could care less if you waste your time and money smoking up. My point is that the Diaz’s are going to get in trouble with various Athletic Commissions and sabotage their own careers (see: Gomi vs. Diaz).
Like I said stop pushing your views onto others. Illegal because of a bunch of politicians. Alcohol is also illegal for minors but I’ll put plenty of money on the fact that you drank before you hit 21. Its a dull point to make and all you are doing is trying to cut on a fighter for doing something that should not have been a problem in the first place. Diaz beat Gomi and in the minds or real fans that is a fact. Nobody says Diaz had an unfair advantage because he smoked. Not to mention I do believe Diaz had a medical license to have it so it would not have been illegal.
Damn dude, maybe you should go toke up and relax.
Joe Rogan disagrees with that. in that radio interview he did, he said that he feel it is most definitely a performance enhancing drug.
I’d like to see Nate vs Griffin if possible.
huerta would probably give diaz the most trouble. thats the fight i’d like to see… but griffin vs diaz sounds more likely.
Nate already fought Gray Maynard on the ultimate fighter five. Guillotine choke win for Diaz.
Knowing ufc they’ll give him some new guy for some random reason. but i would like to see how he does against a strong wrestler like edgers or griffin.
Hey john remember undercards are televised but not main events. prelims are the none televised.
That’s one ugly bitch.
Anyone have any idea if or when UFC is going to come back to Houston, TX. Not to be a prick, but they sure have been in boring old Ohio alot? UFC 69 in Houston was a great, one of the biggest if not the biggest crowd Toyota Center had ever seen. Topped the Rolling Stone. UFC, where are you?
Tyson Griffin or Roger Huerta.
This is what the UFC should do. Sign Nick, then……
Nate vs Manny II
+
Nick vs Karo II
….same card….back to back.
Who wouldn’t watch that?
good thought introvert, I got the diaz boys in a sweep!!
Ive got the Karo/Manny with a sweep. Karo already beat Nick, and Manny was owning Nate until his shoulder exploded.
Karo seems like he’s a little messed in the head lately…I think Nick beats him in a rematch.
…although Nate was getting whooped pretty good by Manny in their first fight, before the injury. Of course Manny just got KTFO in his last fight.
I’d have to go with Nick over Karo…..Manny over Nate
…for the split.
What about a fight with sean sherk?
sherk would destroy either of them. Nate needs to work on his standup, he was getting owned by Batman till he caught him in that triangle
Do i smell KenFlo/Diaz???????
LMAO…no you do not. Diaz isn’t on that level yet.
I think he should fight Joe Lauzon because that was the fight from The Ultimate Fighter 5 that everyone wanted to see in fact that was the fight that everyone thought would be the finale so put that fight together.