How good is Nate Diaz boxing?

Qwerty1

Qwerty1

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Im not a boxing expert but i know there are a lot on this site so im just wondering what you guys think. Is his boxing overrated?

When he was on a tear at 155 almost a decade ago he looked great. Even against Michael Johnson he looked sharp. Is it just Nate at 170 slows down considerably? Is it all the damage hes taken? Look at his fights with Michael Johnson, Miller, Cerrone, Davis, etc. He seems way better.

Now he is almost promoted as a punching bag that will out last his opponent. He used to put on clinics against guys on the feet. Even at 155 I dont think he would have got boxed up by Conor like that or Masvidal.
 
He is clearly on the decline.
He looked atrocious against Pettis (despite the win) and Masvidal.
 
It's effective (his offense) but his striking defense is built on his durability. He does lean back which takes the power off some punches, but other than that he just covers up. He never comes out of fights unscaved
 
Pretty good just nowhere near Jorge

He used to be one of Andre Wards best sparring partners against southpaws and Ward is a top 5 boxer of the past era. He said Nate was hard to spar and the Diaz bros more than hold their own. Ward credited him alot for the prep against Pascal where he dominated
 
He has some of the best offensive boxing we’ve seen in mma. It’s because he’s trained with legit boxers throughout his career, even Andre Ward has said he’s got great boxing and could have been successful in his sport.

He’s made it far just by using his hands so that should tell you something.

He has legit boxing technique and fundamentals. His defense isn’t that great though
 
It is really good by MMA standards but it wouldn't cut the mustard in straight up boxing.

Before someone points out that Andre Ward praised him after sparring with him; Ward compliments everybody. He's just a really nice guy. The fact that he handled himself well sparring with SOG doesn't mean he wouldn't get torched by world class boxers in the ring.
 
Good enough to hang with Andre Ward. Ward actually credited Nate more than Nick on his boxing.
 
He has some good highlights and beat a good amount of strikers throughout his career. I'm no boxing expert but it's clear to me he knows how to use his range/volume while utilizing the clinch. Out of the 30+ fights he's had, we've only seen him outstruck a few times. I think people forget he's a BJJ guy at his core. Boxing was something he picked up later on.
 
Reydereyes said:
Masvidal begs to differ.
If Nate Diaz had more power he'd be pretty fucking scary though.
Click to expand...
I think his power is severely underrated though because he puts 20% less in his shots than most fighters and the power shots he mixes in between are masterfully disguised.
Not KO artist but definetely not pillow fisted
 
I'd like to see how Diaz would do in a pure boxing setting, and see how his style would look without threat of kicks or takedowns. I see him getting ironed out by world-class boxers, but I'd still want to see him in a ring.
 
Conor_Is_Overrated said:
He is clearly on the decline.
He looked atrocious against Pettis (despite the win) and Masvidal.
Click to expand...
I agree he didn't look his best against Pettis and especially Masvidal but I thought his clinch work looked great considering it won him the fight against Showtime. Pettis (the range kickboxer) definitely had Diaz (the BJJ guy) when it came to striking in open range. Diaz closed the distance and almost ended it in the second and third round with his dirty boxing against Pettis.
 
punching bag gameplan ... nate diaz main weapon is not his boxing or his bjj, it is his chin. the dude is so durable.
 
If Nate was a boxer, he would get destroyed. I am not an expert on boxing technique, but it seems to me he throws all arm punches and doesn't get full power. He may KO you by pure volume, but I doubt he would KO anyone with one punch. I also don't think his hand speed is very fast. Without takedowns, I don't think Nate would win many fights.
 
Technically decent but He's slow as molasses

reminds me of mark breland but not nearly as good
 
Qwerty1 said:
Im not a boxing expert but i know there are a lot on this site so im just wondering what you guys think. Is his boxing overrated?

When he was on a tear at 155 almost a decade ago he looked great. Even against Michael Johnson he looked sharp. Is it just Nate at 170 slows down considerably? Is it all the damage hes taken? Look at his fights with Michael Johnson, Miller, Cerrone, Davis, etc. He seems way better.

Now he is almost promoted as a punching bag that will out last his opponent. He used to put on clinics against guys on the feet. Even at 155 I dont think he would have got boxed up by Conor like that or Masvidal.
Click to expand...

he has good skills but never was a gid puncher and was the classic volume striker. he throw a lot of rabbit punches and use that as to add up the amount of stikres thrown when most of those punches didnt do much damage
 
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