5 times that Nate Diaz suffered a beating inside the octagon
This weekend sees Nate Diaz face one of the biggest challenges of his UFC career, as he will square off against rising star Khamzat Chimaev in the headline bout of UFC 279.
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Nate Diaz will be hoping for a big win, but many fans expect the veteran to lose badly, and if he does, it won’t be the first time he’s taken a beating in the octagon.
Given that he’s been with the UFC for well over a decade, it should hardly come as a surprise to learn that Diaz has lost his fair share of fights – but most of the time he’s always been competitive. However, at times this hasn’t been the case.
Here are five times that Nate Diaz took a beatdown in the octagon.
#5. Nate Diaz vs. Benson Henderson – UFC on Fox 5
Despite competing in the octagon for well over a decade, Nate Diaz has only fought for a UFC title once, and that was back in December 2012 when he faced Benson Henderson for the lightweight crown.
Unfortunately, while Diaz came into the fight in top form – on the back of three straight wins – he was thoroughly outclassed by ‘Smooth’ and ended up taking a pretty ferocious beating.
This week in UFC History: Benson Henderson def. Nate Diaz at #UFConFOX5 or Roy Nelson def Brendan Schaub at #TUFHeavyweights Finale?
Unsurprisingly, most of the damage done by Henderson came on the ground, as Diaz was largely unable to stop his takedowns. Also, thanks to the champion’s submission defense, he couldn’t get much offense going from his back either.
That meant that he was wide open for some serious ground-and-pound, and unsurprisingly, ‘Smooth’ was happy to oblige, hammering him with some heavy shots from the top in all five rounds.
However, he didn’t just dominate Diaz on the ground – he also gave him a beating on the feet too. ‘Smooth’ used an excellent gameplan, softening the TUF 5 winner up on the feet with his leg kicks before landing some big punches for good measure, even dropping him in the second and third rounds despite his vaunted iron chin.
Overall, this was perhaps the most dominant that any fighter had looked against Diaz to that point. It remains one of the worst beatings the Stockton-based fighter has ever taken in his career.
#4. Nate Diaz vs. Rory MacDonald – UFC 129
After a handful of semi-controversial losses to the likes of Gray Maynard and Joe Stevenson, mid-2010 saw Nate Diaz move up from lightweight to welterweight, and his career saw an immediate resurgence.
After defeating Rory Markham and Marcus Davis, though, Diaz’s time at 170lbs took a turn for the worse when he was defeated by Dong Hyun Kim in one of those frustrating bouts that saw him outwrestled without taking too much damage.
His next fight came against super-prospect Rory MacDonald. Unlike the Kim fight, that bout saw him take some serious punishment.
The first two rounds of the clash weren’t quite as one-sided as many people would believe, although MacDonald probably edged them with some slightly more accurate striking, as well as a couple of takedowns.
The third round, though, was completely dominant for ‘The Red King’. He was able to secure a waistlock on the smaller Diaz, and from there, literally manhandled him, throwing him around with a series of suplexes that even had the TUF 5 winner land on his head at one point.
In the end, ‘The Red King’ was handed a clear-cut unanimous decision, and Diaz ended up dropping back to 155lbs for his next fight five months later, clearly having learned a lesson about fighting far bigger and stronger opponents at that point.
#3. Nate Diaz vs. Rafael Dos Anjos – UFC on Fox 13
When Nate Diaz destroyed Gray Maynard in late 2013, stopping him via TKO in the first round, it felt like he was back to his best. Unfortunately, though, a spat with the UFC’s management saw him refuse any fights for an entire year.
When he did return, at the back end of 2014, he was faced with Rafael Dos Anjos, who was in the form of his life. That meant trouble for the Stockton-based fighter.
The bout turned out to be horribly one-sided, as ‘RDA’ used a weapon that’d always been effective on Diaz – leg kicks – to break him down from the outside. Diaz’s boxing-based game simply didn’t let him come close to the Brazilian, and by the end of the first round, both of his legs looked destroyed.
From there, Dos Anjos coldly picked him apart, both standing and on the ground, with Diaz offering little to no answer in either department. Even his attempts to bait the Brazilian – slapping him at one point – didn’t work, as the stoic ‘RDA’ was just happy to punish him with strikes.
I promise if I ever fight Diaz again I won’t kick his leg 😜
The bout ended up being awarded to Dos Anjos via unanimous decision, and the Brazilian went on to win the UFC lightweight title three months later – while Diaz ended up taking another year away from the octagon to recuperate.
#2. Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal – UFC 244
After becoming one of the biggest stars in the UFC thanks to his rivalry with Conor McGregor in 2016, Nate Diaz decided to do what he’d always done – sit out and wait for another big fight, and a big payday, to materialise.
That big fight turned out to be in 2019, as, after defeating Anthony Pettis in his comeback fight, Diaz was matched with Jorge Masvidal in the first ever ‘BMF’ title bout.
While the title wasn’t exactly the most official, the UFC did go to extraordinary lengths to hype the fight up. They produced a championship belt for the winner and positioned the clash as one of the biggest of the year.
Unfortunately, despite his reputation as one of the promotion’s baddest men, Diaz was unable to deliver the goods inside the octagon. Masvidal wasted no time in hurting him badly in the first round, nailing him with elbows before dropping him with a head kick. While Diaz survived, it was all downhill for him from there.
Masvidal drops Diaz again!
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The second and third rounds saw the two men trade off with more strikes, and despite Diaz’s best efforts, his boxing just didn’t work against Masvidal, who displayed heavier hands, cleaner punches, and was able to shrug off any attempts at takedowns too.
By the end of the third round, Diaz appeared to have been hit with a machete, with bad cuts basically all across his face but particularly around his right eye. Controversially, the doctor was forced to step in to stop the fight, and while the ending was anticlimactic, it was hard not to see that Diaz had been destroyed.
The fight turned out to be his last for well over a year once again, and it’s probably arguable that he hadn’t really recovered from the beating he took when he faced Leon Edwards in 2021.
#1. Nate Diaz vs. Josh Thomson – UFC on Fox 7
While he was technically stopped by Jorge Masvidal in 2019, the fact that it was a doctor who decided the outcome of that bout rather than ‘Gamebred’ means that only one fighter to date has actually taken out Nate Diaz inside the octagon.
That fighter was former lightweight contender Josh Thomson, who – were it not for some bad luck and unfortunate timing – might be remembered as one of the best 155lbers of his generation.
‘The Punk’ actually made his name in the UFC in the early 2000’s with fights against Hermes Franca and Yves Edwards. He was also hugely successful in StrikeForce, beating the likes of JZ Cavalcante and Gilbert Melendez.
When he came back into the UFC in 2013, though, he did so with a lack of fanfare. That all changed, though, when he faced off with Diaz in his return bout.
Given that Diaz had defeated the likes of Jim Miller and Donald Cerrone, most fans expected him to handle Thomson easily. However, ‘The Punk’ and his technical striking skills proved to be too much for the TUF 5 winner to handle. Thomson used his kicks and movement to pick him apart.
By the second round, it was clear that Diaz was in trouble, and sure enough, when Thomson smashed him with a right head kick, the end was nigh. Diaz tumbled to the ground, and a series of punches forced referee Mike Beltran to step in, just as the towel was thrown in.
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While the victory proved to be Thomson’s last hurrah with the UFC, as he did not win another fight in the octagon, it remains the only time Diaz has ever been fully stopped in his tenure with the promotion. Whether Khamzat Chimaev can repeat the feat this weekend remains to be seen.