Ultimate Fighting Championship
Diaz a lightweight player after win
Ultimate Fighting Championship

Diaz a lightweight player after win

Published Dec. 30, 2011 12:00 a.m. ET

Nate Diaz has had a fairly unique career in the UFC since winning "The Ultimate Fighter."

With a terrific run through the lightweight division that included a handful of wins over top fighters, and two contested split-decision losses to title-contender Gray Maynard and top fighter Clay Guida, he moved up to welterweight and had mixed results.

Moving back down after a humiliating effort against Rory MacDonald, Diaz has found a home back in the lightweight division.

And, in retrospect, he never should've left it in the first place.

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With an absolute dismantling of Takanori Gomi, a win that would've meant a lot more back when Gomi was the best lightweight in the world, Diaz's dismantling of Donald Cerrone on Friday night at UFC 141 in Las Vegas instantly vaults him into title contention.

It's got to happen after a dominant decision victory over Cerrone.

When we look back at Diaz's record, he's been remarkably competitive among what is now the top tier of the division in recent history. He even has a submission victory over Maynard, albeit in an exhibition on "The Ultimate Fighter," as well as the split-decision losses to two guys considered among the top five fighters in the division.

Cerrone seemed poised to join them, a win over Diaz being the final touch in what could've been a title shot for him, until he ran into the younger brother of welterweight title contender Nick Diaz.

The next fight Nate Diaz needs is a title eliminator, perhaps against the winner of Joe Lauzon and Anthony Pettis while Frankie Edgar defends the belt against Benson Henderson. The lightweight title picture is cleared enough that another victory against a contender should vault Diaz ahead of the line. And in the scheme of things, lightweight is the proper division for him because his abilities lend itself to that division and not welterweight.

Diaz is slightly built, like his brother, but he doesn't have the body type to carry the proper muscle structure for the welterweight division. It was painfully obvious against MacDonald, who looked a full weight division bigger than Diaz, and back at lightweight his body type fits. He doesn't look like a massive lightweight like Maynard, but he fits in despite his skinnier frame. And with two straight decisive victories, one against a top-tier fighter, Diaz has really found his home at the top of the lightweight division.

One can see why a welterweight move would seem attractive for him. Cutting weight to get to 155 had to be tough, and an easier weight drop to 170 probably looked more attractive on paper. With Georges St. Pierre the standard bearer in the welterweight division, bigger fights and potentially bigger paydays could await him that weren't available at lightweight. But at welterweight he's a middle-of-the-pack journeyman at best.

If the MacDonald fight taught us anything, it's that he's just not big enough to compete at that weight. Against other fighters with similar builds he'd suffer the same fate; someone like Josh Koscheck, who cuts from close to 200 pounds or so to make 170, would be monstrous in comparison.

You could say the same about many of the top fighters in that division as well.

Diaz isn't designed to be a welterweight like his brother despite having the same genetics and same style. Lightweight may not be quite the glory division for Nate Diaz in terms of paydays, but it's where he belongs. Being a journeyman welterweight is one thing, but he has the potential to be a UFC champion at lightweight.

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