By Alex Mattis
Two weeks ago, Nick Diaz defended his Strikeforce welterweight title against Evangelista Santos. The fight turned out to be an instant classic and saw the dramatic conclusion with Diaz submitting Santos via arm bar in the 2nd round.
This win marked the ninth in-a-row for Diaz, and aided in making the claim that he has “cleared out” Strikeforce’s welterweight division. While Diaz still has an impending title defense against his most dangerous challenger in Paul Daley, one must ponder what could lay ahead for the man from the 209.
(There’s also the ubiquitous possibility of Diaz finally fighting Jason “Mayhem” Miller, but don’t hold your breath on that one). Not looking past Daley, because the Left Hook of DEATH could drop at anytime, but what’s next for Diaz if he does beat ‘Semtex’? The Stockton native seems comfortable in Strikeforce, but his competitive drive may eventually get the better of him; a return to the UFC may eventually be inevitable.
All of this has created a popular thesis amongst MMA fans and media: How would Nick Diaz fair against the 170 lb’ers of the UFC? With many ranking Diaz in the Top 5 welterweights of the world as well as a Top 10 “Pound-4-Pound” fighter, the popular belief is that if he were to return to the UFC, he would run through the majority of their division.
That may be a bit of a steep statement, but there is a valid argument to be made. Aside from a thunderous Zaromskis left-hook and some murderous leg kicks from Santos, Diaz hasn’t come close to defeat in the last three years. He has completely outclassed his competition with his mix of outstanding BJJ, top-shelf conditioning, and some of the best boxing in MMA. Lest we forget, his most dangerous weapon: his ability to keep it unbelievably real.
All these attributes, coupled with his incredibly tricky reach, make Nick Diaz a tough fight for anyone. Of course, this is all hypothetical, so there’s no way of really predicting how Diaz would perform in the UFC. BUT, in this hypothetical world, it would be fair to give Diaz a large advantage of most welterweights under the ZUFFA banner.
From what we’ve seen, it’s not absurd to believe Diaz would become one of the top welterweights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Nevertheless, with Georges St. Pierre in firm control (and not losing it anytime soon) and the incredibly established Jon Fitch constantly riding shotgun, it’s hard to think that Nick Diaz could reach the status of ‘#1 Welterweight in the World’ at this time.
It’s unfortunate that the UFC and MMA, has the types of issues that would prohibit a fighter like Nick Diaz from fighting on the premiere show. However, I don’t see M1 anywhere near this situation so it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
If Nick Diaz has a 2011 that resembles his 2010, he will be left devoid of competition outside of the UFC, Making things very interesting for all parties involved.
