5 UFC superstars who wasted their prime years
The window for a fighter to achieve major success in the UFC is often a short one, and while there have been some outliers like Randy Couture and Yoel Romero, most fighters hit their athletic peak in their 20’s and early 30’s.
While some fighters have definitely maximized their athletic prime by fighting at the top of the UFC, it’s unfortunate that other great fighters appear to have somewhat wasted their prime.
Issues with the UFC - usually revolving fighter pay - often cause this. On some occasions, however, the fighters involved may have been better off swallowing their pride to make an impact on MMA.
With this considered, here are five UFC stars who unfortunately wasted their prime years.
#5. Nate Diaz – UFC welterweight contender
Nate Diaz is undoubtedly one of the most popular UFC fighters on the current roster. He's also one of the promotion's premier drawing cards, with a fight involving him ensuring interest in any UFC card.
However, Diaz's overall UFC record (15-11) leaves a lot to be desired. And at the age of 36, it's unlikely that the native of Stockton, California, is about to hit a career resurgence any time soon. In fact, it's likely that he's now at the back end of his athletic prime.
Diaz is a fantastic talent, so why isn't his record stronger? Well, part of it is because he has never taken an easy fight in his career. As admirable as that is, it's fair to say that he's wasted a lot of time on the shelf.
In his early years with the UFC, Diaz averaged three fights per year. But after challenging unsuccessfully for the UFC lightweight title in 2012, 'The Stockton Slugger' decided that the UFC simply wasn't paying him what he was worth.
As a result, he would regularly sit out of competition for long stretches, fighting just three times between late 2013 and late 2015.
And even when he reached the apex of his popularity with his two fights against Conor McGregor in 2016, Diaz then chose to sit out following those clashes in an attempt to squeeze more money out of the UFC.
While this attempt worked to an extent – he was reportedly paid a flat fee of $500k for his fight with Jorge Masvidal at UFC 244 – it almost certainly means that Nate Diaz has spent his prime years on the shelf.
He probably has few complaints about this; his bank account has been filled. Diaz is also lucky not to have taken as much damage as some of his peers. However, from a sporting perspective, it's disappointing to see his potential left unrealized.