What does a guy like Nate do from here? I just dont think he has the frame to stop a guy like Benson from taking him down or out muscling him ...even if Nate checks kicks with a guy like Benson he still takes a lot of the damage. Just a horrible matchup for him. Going up in weight was not the right move for Diaz before and i highly doubt he could make 145. So what happens now? Even if he gets better tdd a guy like Benson is going to have to much power for him.
Both he and his brother need to start forcing their ground game on their opponents. Competent kickboxers following a good gameplan will chop away at their legs. Both Diaz bros have great BJJ and they should start looking for more takedowns. They don't have to necessarily shoot in, but working the clinch and mixing in trips/takedowns with strikes will do them lots of good.
You can just tell the new fans apart from the old guys. New guys seem to think when a guy loses a title fight, he must move a division or be faced with never fighting for a title again.
After watching Diaz submit miller and embarrase cerrone I was expecting way way way batter against bendo
He got hurt early and Bendo is a great fighter who also has a style made to beat Nate. Nate will still win every UFC belt next year.
Nate tried to work the clinch a lot on Benson but looked overpowered by him. Diaz had one good trip i believe he set up against the cage but immediately lost the position after getting him down. Benson just looks scary strong in that division.
You can't just "work on" wrestling late in life unless you are a phenomenal athlete like GSP. Wrestling as a standalone sport is physically grueling and the best wrestlers in MMA have generally been doing it since they were kids. Nick and Nate probably only started wrestling once they became successful pro fighters. And there's more to wrestling than just working on takedown technique: being able to constantly move and come out on top in scrambles depends a lot on some solid physical tools, and I just don't think Nick and Nate are built for that. They might be great triathletes, but I really doubt that they could physically sustain constant scrambles and chain wrestling for 5 rounds.
Thats what im trying to say..thank you for putting it in to words lol. Thats why im wondering at this point in his career what can he do to try and overcome it. He fights to finish and is dangerous and has all the tools to win besides the wrestling, but he needs to get into that zone first. I just dont think he can get loose with Benson overpowering him physically and his top game.
Nate could be champion with a more favourable match-up. Bendo is probably the worst stylistic match-up for him at 155. Keep fighting, keep working hard, simple. Even if he doesn't win the strap he's a top-tier guy at LW.
Pettis is probably just as bad of a matchup as Bendo is, and Frankie too if he were still a lightweight. Maynard and Guillard are also bad matchups, but have exploitable flaws in their sub defense which Nate took advantage of. I also think Cerrone has the potential to make Nate look as bad as Nick did against Condit, but Cerrone blew that fight by being retarded (I'll cut him some slack because that was his 5th fight in 2011).
Fair points, I definitely stand by Bendo being the worst match-up for him. I would pick Nate over Melvin almost every time they fight via composure at this point. I'd pick him over Gray based on recent performances but not by a wide margin, 60/40 perhaps. Frankie would be an interesting fight, footwork and speed vs Nate's reach. A pick 'em fight in my head. I gotta say I'm not sure how a Pettis fight would go but he hasn't looked unbeatable since coming to the ufc. Not by a long shot.
RE your Cerrone point I would say the same applies for all aforementioned opponents. They all seemingly have the ability to outdo each other on any given night. That's why I think the division feels so exciting and stacked
