Nick Diaz: Best of the Rest
Posted by Bryan Belangia on February 2nd, 2010
Who is the best in the world at 170lbs? That’s an easy one right? The consensus top five pound for pound and UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. But while “Rush” prepares to defend his belt against Dan Hardy at UFC 111, Nick Diaz is making a case as the fighter that poses the biggest threat to him at 170lbs.
Since his departure from the UFC, Diaz has reeled off an impressive streak of 7-1 and 1 no contest. The lone loss came via doctor stoppage due to cuts above his eye to KJ Noons and Diaz submitted then top five lightweight Takanori Gomi with a gogoplata before the NSAC ruled it a no contest due to a positive marijuana test.
At 26 years old, Diaz seems to be finally hitting his stride.
He followed up two dominating performances against Frank Shamrock and Scott Smith with another this past Saturday night over up and comer Marius Zaromskis. Zaromskis came into the fight with a lot of hype after head kicking his way to winning the DREAM welterweight grand prix in July. The conventional wisdom was that if Diaz wanted to survive against a striker like Zaromskis, he needed to get the fight to the floor. The conventional wisdom couldn’t have been more wrong. Zaromskis looked to cash in early as he rushed Diaz at the opening bell but was totally outclassed by Diaz’ boxing skills and was sent to the floor after a series of body shots and a vicious uppercut by Diaz in the first round.
The saying is that styles make fights. Since GSP won his belt back from Matt Serra, he’s defended it three times and each against a different style of opponent. Jon Fitch’s wrestling proved to be no match for St. Pierre and GSP battered him on the feet for the majority of the five round fight.
Next up was a rematch of one of the most debated split decisions in UFC history. The rematch proved the first was no fluke as BJ Penn’s corner was forced to throw in the towel after four rounds. Stylistically, Penn really should be the toughest test for St. Pierre, but in the end, he’s still a lightweight with conditioning problems at 170lbs.
St. Pierre’s toughest test was supposed to come from Thiago Alves. Alves was riding a seven fight win streak that included dominating wins over Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck. Alves, known for his dynamic kicks and knees was taken out of his game as St. Pierre took the fight to the floor and stifled him for five rounds. Styles do make fights, and GSP being great in more than one area of fighting has been able to exploit the weaknesses of his opponents by taking them out of their game.
Diaz poses a threat to St. Pierre that no other current welterweight does- he’s great on his feet and on the mat. While Diaz isn’t known as much for his one punch knockout power, he relies on a high volume of strikes that he seems to throw with little effort and land with pinpoint accuracy. On the feet, Diaz is simply throwing more punches than you can count. On the mat, the Cesar Gracie black belt is either sinking in a rear naked choke or throwing up gogoplata’s from the bottom. While his teammate and current Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields will get the recognition of being possibly the best welterweight outside the UFC, it’s Diaz who likely would pose the biggest threat to St. Pierre’s belt.
February 2nd, 2010 at 1:20 am
It feels as if Diaz’s MMA career is in its third act now — and yeah, it’s hard to believe he’s still in his mid-twenties. I loved the bodywork against Zaromskis to set up the T/KO.
I’m not sure he can survive having GSP on top of him. But, who can?