Nate Diaz

Nate Diaz (born April 16, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist who is currently a free agent.

Diaz is most known for his time spent fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he fought for over 15 years after winning The Ultimate Fighter 5.

Prior to signing with the UFC, Diaz competed in World Extreme Cagefighting, Strikeforce, and Pancrase.

Diaz has the third most UFC bonus awards, with 16 in total.

The son of Melissa (née Womble) and Robert Diaz, he was born of Mexican and Anglo heritage and raised in Stockton, California, with his brother Nick and sister Nina.

He grew up in Lodi, California and attended Tokay High School.

At the age of 11, he began training in martial arts with his brother, Nick.

Prior to his official MMA career, Diaz competed in a bare knuckle MMA fight against Robert Limon on July 20, 2002, at the age of 17.

Footage has since emerged of the fight and it is believed to be his first competitive experience.

Upon making his official professional MMA debut, Diaz competed mainly for World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC).

In 2006, at WEC 24, he fought for the WEC Lightweight Championship against then-champion Hermes França, losing by submission in the second round.

This was the last event held by WEC before it was acquired by Zuffa, LLC, then parent company of the UFC.

Diaz was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 5, which exclusively featured lightweights, fighting on Jens Pulver's team.

In the preliminary round, Diaz defeated Rob Emerson by submission; in the quarterfinals he defeated fellow Team Pulver teammate Corey Hill via triangle choke submission in the first round.

In the semifinals, Diaz defeated Team Penn member Gray Maynard by submission, advancing to the finals, in which he faced teammate Manvel Gamburyan.

Diaz won by submission after Gamburyan was forced to tap out in the second round due to the dislocation of his right shoulder as the result of attempting a takedown.

With the victory, Diaz won The Ultimate Fighter 5.

After defeating Alvin Robinson and Junior Assunção via submission, Diaz demanded tougher opponents.

He was given a match with Kurt Pellegrino at UFC Fight Night 13.

Diaz defeated Pellegrino via triangle-choke submission in the second round.

As he locked up the choke, Diaz had time to flex for the crowd and throw up double middle fingers before Pellegrino submitted.

Diaz then defeated veteran Josh Neer by split decision in the main event of UFC Fight Night 15.

Diaz next fought former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Clay Guida at UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Penn 2, losing via split decision.

Guida used his wrestling to take Diaz down multiple times.

Guida won via split decision, marking Diaz's first loss in the UFC, in what was also his pay per view debut.

Diaz met fellow Ultimate Fighter winner and former King of the Cage Welterweight Champion Joe Stevenson at The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale.

Stevenson took Diaz down at will throughout the 3 rounds and Diaz lost by unanimous decision.

After two consecutive losses by decision, Diaz was billed to headline UFC Fight Night 19 opposite Melvin Guillard.

Diaz won by submission to a guillotine choke at 2:30 of round 2.

Diaz faced Gray Maynard on January 11, 2010, in the main event at UFC Fight Night 20, a rematch from when the two met in the semi-finals of the TUF 5 lightweight tournament, which Diaz won.

Diaz lost a controversial split decision to Maynard, as the former TUF winner was given the nod in the FightMetric reports, winning rounds two and three.

After three losses in four fights, Nate considered making a permanent move up in weight to the 170 lb. weight class, stating "I don't make enough money to have to drop this much weight so I'd like to fight at 170 and only go to 155 every once in a while."

Diaz made his Welterweight debut on March 27, 2010, at UFC 111 against Miletich Fighting Systems product and striking specialist Rory Markham.

At the weigh-ins, Markham weighed in at 177, whereas Diaz weighed in at the Welterweight limit of 171; the fight was changed to a catchweight fight.

Diaz went on to win the fight by TKO in the first round.

After the win over Markham, Diaz stated he would compete in both weight classes.

His next fight was again at Welterweight against former professional boxer Marcus Davis on August 28, 2010, at UFC 118.

Diaz finished Davis after choking him unconscious with a guillotine choke submission in the final round; the bout earned Fight of the Night honors.

Diaz next faced South Korean fighter Dong Hyun Kim, on January 1, 2011, at UFC 125.

Diaz lost the fight via unanimous decision.