Nick Diaz or Nate Diaz - Who's the better fighter?

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I think Nick does everything better than Nate by a country mile.

But I believe Nate has actually surpassed Nick in terms of success. Nate has probably made more money in 3 fights (McGregor ×2, Masdival) than Nick did his their career including his million dollar fight against GSP.

 

[JSN]

Honestly I think it's Nate. He's consistently fought better competition.

That’s why I voted tie. In theory Nick was the better boxer and Nayt grappler, but it’s TUF to really assess given the disparity in competition level. They’re pretty damned similar. Great endurance, great chins, good attrition boxing, terrible wrestling, good JJ, terrible kick defense.

 

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Honestly I think it's Nate. He's consistently fought better competition.

This is a lie.

GSP
Condit
Daley
Silva
Gomi (when he was on top of the world)

What's Nate's best 5 opponents?

Leon Edwards
Benson Henderson
McGregor
Masdival
prime Cowboy

I count 2 GOATs, a HOF, a UFC interim WW champ for Nick.

 

[cade187]

Pretty sure this is the 800th time this thread has been made

 

[VinceArch]

This is a lie.

GSP
Condit
Daley
Silva
Gomi (when he was on top of the world)

What's Nate's best 5 opponents?

Leon Edwards
Benson Henderson
McGregor
Masdival
prime Cowboy

I count 2 GOATs, a HOF, a UFC interim WW champ for Nick.

That's fine, doesn't mean you are right and that doesn't mean I am either. Think Nick's the better fighter and I'll continue to think Nate is. Everyone wins.

 

[MMAProfessional]

I'm not talking about wins or losses just overall competition. Then Nick was fighting KJ Noons and Mike Aina (who?) soon after. Nate was fighting Kurt Pellegrino, Josh Neer, Joe Stevenson and Clay Guida not long after.

People said the same shit with Strikforce and UFC...Strikeforce fighters became champ. People get the misconception that Nate was in the UFC and beating better fighters.

 

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That's fine, doesn't mean you are right and that doesn't mean I am either. Think Nick's the better fighter and I'll continue to think Nate is. Everyone wins.

Yep. That's called respect.

 

[JonJonesNeedle]

This is a lie.

GSP
Condit
Daley
Silva
Gomi (when he was on top of the world)

What's Nate's best 5 opponents?

Leon Edwards
Benson Henderson
McGregor
Masdival
prime Cowboy

I count 2 GOATs, a HOF, a UFC interim WW champ for Nick.

On top of this, Nick finished Robbie Lawler and battered a great in BJ Penn.

2 GOATS (Silva and GSP) were pretty hesitant in striking against Nick. Meanwhile Nate was getting battered by Conor/Masvidal/Edwards (all of whom are good but not GSP/Silva level).

 

[bigjoshstud]

Prime vs Prime Nick and it’s not even close. Elitexc/strike force Nick put a pace and beating on his opponents that was frightening.

 

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I went with Nate because he's the more proven commodity. People picking Nick are doing so on pure speculation, considering he hasn't actually beaten many (if any) top fighters. His best wins are against guys a full division smaller than him (BJ and Gomi), and BJ was already washed up. Outside of that, Nick beat a ton of mid-level guys like Daley, Cyborg, and Noons.

Nate's wins over guys like Conor, Cowboy, and Manyard give him the edge. It's possible (probably probable) that Nick would have turned into the better fighter, but he pissed away his prime years.

Isn't Nate 1-2 against Maynard?
Wasn't Conor the 145 champ when he fought Nate?
Cowboy at that time was a great win.

But come on. You don't think Nick would've smoked Uriah Faber, or Miguel Torres or Mike Brown back in the day too?

 

[IDGETKTFO]

Nick beat BJ Penn, Carlos conduit ran from Nick, Nick went to a decision with Anderson SIlva and GSP. And thats just a recall of the last decade.

 

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On top of this, Nick finished Robbie Lawler and battered a great in BJ Penn.

2 GOATS (Silva and GSP) were pretty hesitant in striking against Nick. Meanwhile Nate was getting battered by Conor/Masvidal/Edwards (all of whom are good but not GSP/Silva level).

The same God damn BJ would had a draw with Fitch and took a 10-8 round off him when they were still extremely hesitant to award those.

 

[cheesus]

Slight edge to Nick, Nate had a tougher schedule so it's hard to gauge.

 

[laleggenda27]

Isn't Nate 1-2 against Maynard?
Wasn't Conor the 145 champ when he fought Nate?
Cowboy at that time was a great win.

But come on. You don't think Nick would've smoked Uriah Faber, or Miguel Torres or Mike Brown back in the day too?

1. Conor was an absolutely massive "FW" who killed himself to make weight. In reality, he was a decent sized LW all along. Everyone knows this, including Conor, which is why he always talked about how much bigger he was than the guys at 145.

2. No, Nate isn't 1-2 against Maynard. Nate won the first by submission and won the third by TKO. Maynard won the second by split decision in a fight most people scored for Nate. C'mon, fella. If you're going to comment on such things, at least put some effort into it.

3. Not sure what you're talking about with Nick (170) vs. Faber (135/145), Torres (135), and Brown (145). I'll just assume that wasn't a well-thought-out comment and move on.

 

[VinceArch]

People said the same shit with Strikforce and UFC...Strikeforce fighters became champ. People get the misconception that Nate was in the UFC and beating better fighters.

He definitely fought tougher competition.

 

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1. Conor was an absolutely massive "FW" who killed himself to make weight. In reality, he was a decent sized LW all along. Everyone knows this, including Conor, which is why he always talked about how much bigger he was than the guys at 145.

2. No, Nate isn't 1-2 against Maynard. Nate won the first by submission and won the third by TKO. Maynard won the second by split decision in a fight most people scored for Nate. C'mon, fella. If you're going to comment on such things, at least put some effort into it.

3. Not sure what you're talking about with Nick (170) vs. Faber (135/145), Torres (135), and Brown (145). I'll just assume that wasn't a well-thought-out comment and move on.

1. He might be massive but he was still a FW at the time. Nate was 2-2 in the UFC at WW before he fought Conor and iirc he lost to DHK via split decision so he couldn't been 3-1. The only WW fight (before Leon) that he was just outclassed at was Rory.

2. That second fight was atrocious. It was so bad that Frankie got the LW TS instead of Maynard even though it was a contender's fight.

3. Nate has always been a bigger LW. I was pointing out that Nick would've beaten really good guys a weight class or 2 lower than him

 

[laleggenda27]

1. He might be massive but he was still a FW at the time. Nate was 2-2 in the UFC at WW before he fought Conor and iirc he lost to DHK via split decision so he couldn't been 3-1. The only WW fight (before Leon) that he was just outclassed at was Rory.

2. That second fight was atrocious. It was so bad that Frankie got the LW TS instead of Maynard even though it was a contender's fight.

3. Nate has always been a bigger LW. I was pointing out that Nick would've beaten really good guys a weight class or 2 lower than him

Comparing Nick-Torres/Faber/Brown to Nate-Conor is absurd. First off, Nick is 2 to 3 weight classes bigger than those guys. Using that kind of hyperbole only diminishes your credibility.

Conor was always a full-sized LW. And Nate was always a LW who only fought at WW when he didn't feel like cutting. You know this, I know this, we all know this. Yes, Nate is/was a big LW, so he was slightly larger than Conor. But Nate certainly wasn't killing himself to make LW the way Conor was to make FW. They're both lightweights, make no mistake about it.

 

[WTF2008]

I voted Nick but think Nate could be better. It’s a tough one.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

I don’t see how this is even a question. One has been a champion in a high profile promotion. The other lost to Clay Guida (All due respect to the Carpenter).

Nate’s sole claim to fame was beating Conor. And I appreciate him dearly for that. But, come on.

 

[Cranberry2.0]

Like I said, consistently. Nate has had

Conor
Michael Johnson
RDA
Gray Maynard
Josh Thomson
Benson Henderson
Jim Miller
Cowboy
Gomi
Rory
DHK

and that's only from 2011-2016. Nick was pissing and moaning for most of that time, sitting on the sidelines.

And he got his ass kicked in many of those fights