Fighting Style
Diaz is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Cesar Gracie whom he has been training with since he was a teenager. He is accomplished in both gi and no-gi jiu-jitsu. Some of the major titles he has won include the US Purple Belt Open in 2004 and a Pan American Brown Belt Medium Weight Division title in 2005. He also owns a victory over renowned grappler Jorge Patino in competition via kneebar. He is known for having a modified BJJ style that suits his MMA career very well. Diaz lists his favorite submission as the kimura.
Diaz is also a professional boxer and fights in the Super Middleweight weight class. He made his professional debut in April 2005 against Alfonso Rocha at the Radisson Hotel in Sacramento, California. Diaz was victorious, winning by unanimous decision after four rounds. He has not fought since. Nick and Nate Diaz are now being trained by former WBA and WBC World Champion Luisito Espinosa and are training with Jason "Gumby" Schrumpf. Nick has also recently been training with Olympic Boxing Gold Medalist Andre Ward.
Diaz displays an unusual boxing style for MMA, relying upon volume punching without full power and occasionally adding in hard punches. CompuStrike, which tabulates statistics from MMA fights, has shown him attempting 181 strikes in one round, making it the most total strikes thrown in any round that CompuStrike has recorded.
Diaz is also known for trash talking and for his endurance in fights. Diaz is known to consistently hurl insults at his opponent before and during the fights. Additionally, Diaz has some of the best cardio in MMA. He competes in triathlons for fun and uses his endurance to constantly put pressure on his opponent and push the pace. Diaz has said, "Fighters are afraid of conditioning, they are afraid of getting tired, but I don’t want to have anxiety or be afraid of anything. I can go 100 percent out there and never have to worry about getting tired. Everybody says fighting is 90 percent mental, and it’s true. Knowing you can go 15 minutes or 25 minutes without any problem can help you sustain that mental advantage over your opponent..."
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