Diaz and Maynard Square Off For The Third Time!!
by Tommy Strong @strong_tea
The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale, will see top lightweights Nate Diaz take on Gray Maynard for the third time of asking.
Though only officially the second time on record, as the first encounter was in 'TUF' 5 where both men would meet in the semi-finals with Nate Diaz submitting Maynard and then going onto be the winner of "TUF" season 5.
The pair would meet again in January 2010, at UFC Fight Night 20, but this time it would be Maynard who would take the win via split decision.
Maynard (11-2-1) went onto to beat Kenny Florian to earn himself a title shot at the Lightweight belt at UFC 125 when he took on Frankie Edgar, in what would end up being the fight of the night and year! In an epic back and forth battle the judges couldn't split the pair with the outcome being a draw (48-46, 46-48, 47-47) The pair would meet again 9 months later in a rematch that didn't disappoint. Though this time it was Edgar that managed to take the win via an emphatic 4th round KO.
Since then Maynard is (1-1) beating Clay Guida via split decision, and then losing to TJ Grant inside the first round in a lightweight title eliminator fight.
Diaz (16-9) since his loss to Maynard, decided to move back up to Welterweight which he had mixed fortunes going 2-2.
At UFC 135 Diaz returned back to Lightweight and went on to win three fights in a row beating Takanori Gomi, Donald Cerrone and then handing Jim Miller his first ever submission loss to earn himself a title shot against Benson Henderson.
Diaz is currently on a two fight losing streak, having lost a one sided fight in his title shot against Benson Henderson and more recently losing to Josh Thomson via TKO. In that fight Josh Thomson became the first fighter to knockout Diaz.
With so much on the line and the way both fighters like to fight, we could be in for a real treat! (touching wood)
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