Master Class? Crap Performance? Or Both?

GoshiShun17

GoshiShun17

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I just saw the Cerrone vs. Nate Diaz fight pop up on my Facebook. I remember at the time Cerrone was on fire and I thought he would certainly have the answers to exploit the weaknesses that Nate has on paper.

I was surprised how much Cerrone was getting smashed on but I was impressed with Nate because I had underestimated him in the past. Still after rewatching a bit of it, I can't help but think Cerrone was better than that.

On the other hand, Nate got a titleshot against Benson after Edgar got robbed. I really believed in Nate at this point. I did not believe Bendo's boxing was elite nor did I think his takedowns and submissions were. I thought Nate could make it very interesting but it turned out to be Benson's most dominant title defense.

Nate completely shit the bed.

So looking back at both of those fights, was it simply a masterclass by Nate vs. Cerrone and then Benson against Nate?

Or did Cerrone shit the bad just as Diaz did against Benson???
 
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I think you mean shit the bed. But anyway to answer your question.. I think Benson’s was a masterclass. While Diaz-Cerrone was a combination of both. It felt like cowboy thought he’d walk all over Nate and when it didn’t happen he clearly checked out mentally
 
I fucking hated Cerrone in that fight. Could’ve done much better.
 
The Cowboy fight is still the most confusing fight to watch. I remember watching it live screaming at the TV, "MOVE UR HEAD COWBOY, WTF!!!" He sprinted out to the center of the octagon and it looked like his arms were stuck to his sides and although cowboy has never had great head movement, it was so bad in this fight i was very confused. This is my go-to fight when talking about horrible performances by elite fighters.

So to answer: Cowboy shit the bed
 
michaelmichaelmichael90 said:
The Cowboy fight is still the most confusing fight to watch. I remember watching it live screaming at the TV, "MOVE UR HEAD COWBOY, WTF!!!" He sprinted out to the center of the octagon and it looked like his arms were stuck to his sides and although cowboy has never had great head movement, it was so bad in this fight i was very confused. This is my go-to fight when talking about horrible performances by elite fighters.

So to answer: Cowboy shit the bed
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yeah that was crazy. pretty sure at the time Nate set a record for most punches landed or something. wasn't until late in the second round, maybe even third(?) when Cowboy finally started throwing some leg kicks and slowing Nate down.
 
Nate was elite at the time. That was prime Nate right there. Young, fast, hungry and ambition to become a champion. His performance vs Miller in the next fight was even more impressive.

As both Donalds and Nate's careers progressed, Nate has proven to be the superior fighter. They have alot of common opponents and Nate did better vs all of them except Bendo.
 
GoshiShun17 said:
I just saw the Cerrone vs. Nate Diaz fight pop up on my Facebook. I remember at the time Cerrone was on fire and I thought he would certainly have the answers to exploit the weaknesses that Nate has on paper.

I was surprised how much Cerrone was getting smashed on but I was impressed with Nate because I had underestimated him in the past. Still after rewatching a bit of it, I can't help but think Cerrone was better than that.

On the other hand, Nate got a titleshot against Benson after Edgar got robbed. I really believed in Nate at this point. I did not believe Bendo's boxing was elite nor did I think his takedowns and submissions were. I thought Nate could make it very interesting but it turned out to be Benson's most dominant title defense.

Nate completely shit the bed.

So looking back at both of those fights, was it simply a masterclass by Nate vs. Cerrone and then Benson against Nate?

Or did Cerrone shit the bad just as Diaz did against Benson???
Click to expand...
At that point Cerrone had really only come up short against Benson in WEC but this seemed to be the beginning of his poor performances in high profile fights in the UFC for sure. I think pressure like Nate's can get Cowboy to wilt as Nate never fades so likely Cerrone had some mental stuff to work through during the fight and it ended up looking like a masterclass for Nate and I like to give the credit to Nate rather than dog on Cerrone.

What Benson did to Nate was a master class. That was the first one on Fox they really had to start censoring stuff, lol. They missed a couple double birds but then they started getting it right and just showing the empty octagon with no sound every time Diaz flipped the bird(s). Probably put it on 5-10 second delay lol.
 
Nate got in Cowboy's head. It's well known that Cowboy doesn't perform well when there's some trash talking/animosity with his opponent. He's at his best when he's relaxed and friendly, which certainly wasn't the case in that fight. He performed much worse than his skillset.

Bendo at that time was a cut above both of them though. His fight IQ and ability to flow and seamlessly combine striking/grappling was ahead of most of his peers at the time. I think he put on a masterclass vs Nate.
 
Styles, son. Styles.
 
What does shitting the bed have to do with fighting. No one shit the bed except that one chick and she shit the octagon. ffs people jesus hc.
 
dildos said:
As a ceremony fan, this fight was painfully frustrating to watch.

cerrone definitely shit the bed here, he was so much better then that at the time!
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I actually never watched the fight. I was out that weekend, but i remember that, at the time, Nate had some potential but wasn't exactly known as some great striker, and Cowboy was basically thought of as the best striker at lightweight. So when i came back and heard not only did Nate win, he beat the shit out of him standing, i literally couldnt picture it
 
Mohawk Banditó said:
I actually never watched the fight. I was out that weekend, but i remember that, at the time, Nate had some potential but wasn't exactly known as some great striker, and Cowboy was basically thought of as the best striker at lightweight. So when i came back and heard not only did Nate win, he beat the shit out of him standing, i literally couldnt picture it
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id say that is a fair depiction of the sentiment at the time.

nate just turned it on, that and cerrone was just stuck in the mudd the whole two first rounds, he rallied back a bit at the third. but the damage was already done.

it did give a pretty cool gif tho, iirc this was coming into the third. cerrones reaction is hilarious.

RashCreepyAlbino-max-1mb.gif
 
Nate shook Cowboy. he lost the mental warfare despite having the skill to beat Nate.
 
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