When you talk about icons and legends of mixed martial arts, you think of fighting ability as well as personality.
One fighter who has shown to be iconic and is globally loved by fans is none other than Stockton, California’s own, Nate Diaz.
Diaz was recognisable to UFC fans for years, just like his brother Nick Diaz, but it wasn’t until a particular fight that he really became a global star.
Here is the journey to the incredible underdog win of an MMA fan-favourite.
The Ultimate Fighter Begins a Triumphant Run
Diaz first made his presence known on the UFC’s reality TV show The Ultimate Fighter: Season 5.
He blazed his way through to reach the semi-finals, defeating Gray Maynard with a Guillotine Choke before reaching the finale.
At 22 years old, Diaz became the winner of the show after submitting Manvel Gamburyan in the second round.
This particular accolade would then be announced every time Bruce Buffer introduced the Californian.
Diaz continued to perform after his victorious moment, making himself stand out in the Lightweight division.
The BJJ black belt submitted Junior Assuncao in the first round to earn three wins in 2007.
Two more consecutive submission wins were earned against Alvin Robinson and Kurt Pellegrino, before headlining his first fight night.
In his first main event, Diaz went the distance with Josh Neer to win by split decision, claiming a 100% win rate in 2008.
Title Shot Inbound
After a bumpy road of wins and losses, Diaz stayed consistent after his defeat to Rory MacDonald at UFC 129.
The submission specialist, Takanori Gomi, at UFC 135, stopped him with a first-round Armbar.
Diaz then went into a heated and unforgettable battle with Donald Cerrone at UFC 141, beating him by unanimous decision.
The title opportunity was earned once Diaz submitted Jim Miller with a Guillotine Choke in New Jersey.
The Californian was set to face UFC Lightweight Champion, Benson Henderson, in Seattle.
The Championship fight would take place at KeyArena as Diaz hoped to become the King of the 155-pound division.
Unfortunately, the Southpaw stance fighter lost a dominant decision with the judges scoring the bout 50-43, 50-45, 50-45.
Surprisingly, this would be Diaz’s only world title fight in the UFC.
The Iconic UFC Callout
After defeating Gray Maynard by first-round TKO in the trilogy fight, Diaz was hunting for a second title shot.
The six-foot-tall mixed martial artist came face-to-face with future UFC Champion, Rafael dos Anjos.
A win could have granted Diaz a dream second chance, but it wasn’t looking promising when he missed the weight limit before the battle.
In the end, it didn’t matter as Diaz suffered a convincing unanimous decision loss to dos Anjos, who went on to win the title in his next fight.
Redemption was then on the mind of the Stockton fighter, as well as something else.
UFC 194 took place a week earlier than Diaz’s scheduled fight, where Conor McGregor became the UFC Featherweight Champion.
After defeating Michael Johnson by unanimous decision in Orlando, Florida, Diaz called out McGregor in the post-fight interview with this infamous line.
“Conor McGregor. You’re taking everything that I work for, motherf***er.”
McGregor vs Diaz: A Shocking Underdog Win
After such a powerful callout, it was a possibility that it could happen, but fans didn’t believe it would.
‘The Notorious’ was supposed to take on Rafael dos Anjos for the Lightweight title at UFC 196, but the Brazilian pulled out due to an injury.
On 11 days’ notice, Diaz stepped in to face McGregor in a Welterweight bout, which attracted a lot of people to this rivalry.
What was more of a challenge for the Ultimate Fighter winner was that the Irishman had never been defeated in the UFC.
To this day, the rivalry is still regarded as one of the best in MMA, as both men were constantly engaging in trash talk.
Whether it would be at the press conferences or face-offs, both men hated each other’s guts.
The press conferences certainly helped attract more viewers and PPV buys as the fight grew in significance, the closer it got.
With all of McGregor’s confidence in the way he spoke to Diaz, it seemed rather appealing that he would win the fight.
As the fight began, McGregor landed plenty of big shots, but Diaz was still contesting with the UFC Featherweight Champion.
At the beginning of round two, Diaz was bleeding badly, but continued to try to put the pace on the Irishman.
Eventually, the Californian stunned McGregor with multiple shots, forcing him to change levels, which would be a big mistake.
Diaz locked in a Guillotine, before changing to a Rear-Naked Choke and made ‘The Notorious’ tap in what would be one of the craziest underdog wins.
The Aftermath
With such a legendary victory, Diaz became one of the biggest names in the UFC, growing both his money figures and fan base.
The Stockton-born superstar did battle McGregor in the rematch at UFC 202, but lost by majority decision.
That event would pull off more PPV buys than the first bout, showing that Diaz was just as well-known as McGregor.
After a three-year layoff, Diaz returned to UFC 241 and faced Pettis, defeating him by unanimous decision.
Diaz went on to face Jorge Masvidal for the inaugural BMF title at UFC 244 in Madison Square Garden.
In the thrilling war, the fight was sadly stopped by a doctor in the third round due to a cut above Diaz’s eye.
Nineteen months later, the fan-favourite returned to take on future UFC Welterweight Champion, Leon Edwards at UFC 263.
The Stockton fighter did lose, but he did rock Edwards in the final minute of round five, making the crowd go absolutely mental.
Diaz’s last MMA battle was against Tony Ferguson at UFC 279, although he was initially scheduled to face Khamzat Chimaev.
The Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu fighter defeated ‘El Cucuy’ by fourth-round submission with a Guillotine Choke.
It’s unknown when Diaz may return to the UFC, as he still aims to win a title in the organisation.
But it’s possible that other plans could take place instead, especially with the UFC’s White House event taking place next year.
