#4 UFC 141 – Vs. Donald Cerrone
After an unpractical move to upgrade his weight class to 170lbs in 2010, Nate Diaz lost to to Dong Hyun Kim and Rory MacDonald, forcing him to go back to his normal 155lbs weight category in 2011 where he fought head to head with Takanori Gomi in UFC 135.
The move back to Lightweight worked tremendously for Nate Diaz, as he looked better than anyone might have expected. But, this did not turn out well for the the Japanese legend, Takanori who became seriously hurt and finally submitted to Diaz in an armbar.
And just only three months later, Diaz was back in the octagon against a super hot Donald ‘Cattle rustler’ Cerrone, who had got his UFC vocation off to a flying start with four straight wins. Furthermore, in great Diaz fashion, he immediately made the battle into an extremely individual affair.
Buildup To The Fight
At the point when ‘Cowboy’ endeavoured to shake his hand amid a pre-battle staredown, Diaz thumped his Stetson off, in a clear attempt to intimidate Cerrone before the actual fight. This move had an instant affect as when UFC 141 was postponed, this gave an unmistakable impression that Diaz was now under Cerrone’s skin.
And, as it turned out, in the actual fight Cerrone basically played into Diaz’s hands. Cowboy turned out excessively forceful and this turned out to be his misfortune as he faced the snappier, more volume-based counterpunching of Diaz.
In maybe the best case of the notorious ‘Stockton Slap’ style of boxing, Diaz essentially devastated Cerrone in the first round with a progression of fresh blends that left him with a broken jaw and for all intents and practically out of the battle.
And although Cerrone’s colossal heart enabled him to hold tight until the last bell, yet the truth was that the battle was already over for him. Nate won this fight and after a sticky fix in his vocation that saw him lose three of six battles, this was an enormous sign that Diaz was back, and over and above anyone’s expectations.
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