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Evolve Media.
* * *
Given what fun the Diaz brothers have brought to the sport of mixed
martial arts, it’s a shame that our time enjoying their assorted
antics and unique fighting styles likely near the end.
Nick Diaz
appeared disinterested in fighting
Robbie
Lawler in 2021 and hasn’t won since he beat
B.J. Penn in
2011.
Nate
Diaz, meanwhile, faces the final fight on his
Ultimate Fighting Championship contract, after which he looks
focused on the financially lucrative celebrity boxing circuit. At
37 and with only one win since his upset of
Conor
McGregor in 2016, there’s little reason to expect we’re going
to get another big run from the eight-time “Fight of the Night”
winner.
With Saturday potentially the final Octagon appearance for the Diaz
clan, it naturally leads to questions about legacy; and the Diaz
legacy is an interesting one to unpack. For some, they’re likely
central characters in the story of MMA over the past 20 years. From
Nick’s wild brawl with
Takanori
Gomi in
Pride Fighting Championships that culminated in a gogoplata
submission and Nate’s middle finger triangle of
Kurt
Pellegrino to the big-money showdowns Nick had with
Georges St.
Pierre and Nate had with McGregor, they’ve been part of so many
moments that have captivated MMA fans.
On the other hand, there’s also a case to be made that while they
have clearly had fun and notable careers, they aren’t defining
fighters of their generation. This argument would note that they
never held UFC championships and that they were the B-sides in
pretty much all of their biggest fights. There’s a difference
between the true needle movers of the sport and fun characters like
a
Donald
Cerrone or
Chan Sung
Jung.
The differing perspectives on the
UFC
279 pay-per-view speak to the divergent views on just how
relevant the Diaz brothers are. Some media and MMA fans have spoken
of Nate-
Khamzat
Chimaev as one of the biggest UFC pay-per-views of the year.
The UFC has shown confidence in the fight, as well, by putting it
on pay-per-view without any accompanying title fights and an
interesting but unspectacular main card.
There are reasons to think this will be a big event by the time we
reach it. There’s a compelling built-in story with Nate looking to
upset the emerging monster and then ride off into free agency with
all the leverage in the world. This is likely particularly
intriguing for those who view the UFC’s treatment of its fighters
negatively and root for opportunities when fighters can show up
management. Chimaev’s most recent fight against
Gilbert
Burns in which he showed heart but also vulnerability provides
encouragement for those holding out hope Diaz can shock the
world.
Optimism about the box-office appeal in the fight is far from
universal, however. The long odds favoring Chimaev at 10- or
11-to-1 speak to the skepticism about Diaz’s chances. There doesn’t
appear to be anything resembling the juice for this fight that
there was for Diaz’s bouts with McGregor or the novel BMF battle
with
Jorge
Masvidal at Madison Square Garden. It’s being covered and
discussed by many as nothing more than a standard-level
pay-per-view main event.
The lack of clarity about what this fight will be makes it a great
litmus test for where Diaz stands with the general public. This
fight isn’t going to be the big test for where Chimaev stands in
his division. Burns was arguably a bigger test last time out.
Whatever curiosity there is in Chimaev’s rise—and there has been a
definite buzz building for some time—this isn’t the fight to pay
off that intrigue. The intrigue centers on Diaz: What sort of test
he can provide Chimaev and can he pull off the startling upset?
Selling the fight depends heavily on how much fans care about
Diaz’s journey, with little relation to the journey of his
opponent.
Diaz has the chance to prove himself in the Octagon once again, but
just as much, he has the opportunity to demonstrate to the UFC that
it has undervalued him and that it is making a mistake letting him
go to free agency. He can lose the fight and still score that
victory, because Diaz has shown many times that he retains his
appeal even in defeat. Whether Diaz goes out with a bang or a
whimper—as much in terms of how the fight resonates as how he
performs—will go a long way to defining how he was always
perceived.