A Young Nate Diaz Has A Lot Of Improving To Do

by Kelvin Hunt on Sep 17, 2009 9:00 AM EDT in News Comment 10 comments

Nate Diaz was able to pull off the much expected submission win against Melvin Guillard at UFC Fight Night 19. However, it was a win that highlighted a lot flaws that Diaz needs to correct if he ever wants to become a major player in the UFC LW division. Check it:

Melvin Guillard was having his way with Nate Diaz prior to getting caught in that guillotine. He out struck Diaz who enjoyed a huge reach advantage, and he was able to slip the majority of Diaz's punches as well. Guillard beat himself in that fight IMO and with Diaz's length he shouldn't be getting out struck in such fashion.
While Diaz has very good BJJ, he absolutely has no take down defense. He simply can't rely on catching opponents in submissions as he moves up in competition because it's simply not going to
work.
Nate Diaz had trouble making the lightweight limit for the Guillard fight. Rumor has it that Diaz may be moving up to the welterweight division(170lbs). If that's the case, bullet #2 should be in bold because that division is full of wrestlers with good submission defense.

Diaz is a very talented fighter. He possesses something that a lot of fighters don't have in that he has a pure fighting spirit just like his older brother Nick. You simply can not teach that. He's still very young and has time to make these improvements. However, we've seen Diaz fight three times this year, and we haven't seen any improvements yet. He got off to a slow start in each fight. He showed poor take down defense in each fight. He didn't use his striking/length effectively in any of the fights. So if he ever expects to beat the top guys, he needs to get on the ball with his training. Maybe it's time for him to branch out from the Cesar Gracie camp?

UFC Fight Night 19: Diaz vs. Guillard coverage

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I agree…he kind of relies too heavily on his sub game off his back, which proved to be useless against guys like Stevenson and Guida….and Guillard was looking great until he made that mistake

by Charles Walker on Sep 17, 2009 9:04 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Diaz needs to improve his wrestling AND he has to learn some defensive striking. When a fighter with a long reach sticks out their arms, all you have to do is duck and some inside and POW!!! Example, see Wanderlei Silva vs. Keith Jardine.

Did I mention that Diaz needs to improve his wrestling?

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by VeeisAnimated on Sep 17, 2009 9:13 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Good stuff. Yeah, I think the takedown defense either needs to noticeably improve or Nate won’t be able to climb to the next level in the divsion. And you’re right, moving to 170 will only amplify his problems against the takedown.

by SlickRick00 on Sep 17, 2009 9:55 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

flame away, but that fight had fix written all over it. Guillard controls virtually the entire fight, gets back up at the sign of a takedown, makes diaz stand back up several times…and then inexplicably TEXTBOOK ducks his head down and sweetly tucks it right underneath Diaz’s arm. please. that and the clearly paid for jobbing of Huerta…..UFC middle finger to Huerta for his comments after they had built him up/hyped him etc. it’s easy to fix a sport when you only need one of the two combatants or to get a couple judges……

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by theworldsoldestsport on Sep 17, 2009 11:27 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I could see a difference of opinon on the Maynard vs. Huerta decision. I thought Maynard won it 29-28. Huerta was most definitely busier on the feet, if not as efficient, but I though Gray shook him up a little more. Add to that the takedowns and I thought he eeked out a close one. Don’t have a problem, though, with someone saying Huerta. I really didn’t think it was that odd, though, that Guillard got caught. I guess I would just point out that he has a history long before this of getting caught in submissions by fighters at this level.

by SlickRick00 on Sep 17, 2009 1:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yea

Not to mention the close sub from Maynard in that fight….I still don’t see how Huerta didn’t tap…it was Gracie/Saku like…and I don’t buy that Guillard took a dive or whatever…his sub defense just sucks IMO.

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by Kelvin Hunt on Sep 17, 2009 2:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs