After getting banned from the sport of Mixed Martial Arts six years ago, Nick Diaz will be back in the Octagon on September 26th to take on Robbie Lawler in a Welterweight bout.
Stockton’s very own Nick Diaz will return to the Octagon on September 26 at UFC 266 to take on his former rival Robbie Lawler ending a hiatus of over 6 years from action, meaning Diaz has grabbed all the eyeballs coming into this fight.
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Lawler and Diaz have squared off in the past at UFC 47 and that fight had every fan absolutely gripped. Nick Diaz stopped Robbie Lawler in the second round to seal the win and the defeat meant plenty of criticism for a brief period, but Lawler rephrased his dominance in the ride with several wins over other opponents in his career since.
Robbie “Ruthless” Lawler has had one of the longest careers in the UFC with an MMA record of 28-15-0. At the age of 39, even though Lawler has been active, he is yet to see a victory since 2017. Lawler’s last victory came against Donald Cerrone at UFC 214 and since then, the martial artist has lost four fights in a row out of which one was a shocking first-round submission defeat against Ben Askren. His most recent loss was against Neil Magny in which he lost the fight via unanimous decision.
As for Nick “Diablo” Diaz (26-9-0), his last fight was against the great Anderson Silva after which Diaz was given a 5-year ban from the sport (later reduced to 18 months). Since that fight, Nick Diaz has always been seen on the sidelines especially for his younger brother Nate Diaz. Just like Lawler, it’s been quite some time since Diaz has won a fight. His last one was over BJ Penn over a decade ago.
PREDICTION: Nick Diaz to win via Knockout
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Both the fighters have passed their prime and the rematch that took 17 years in the making reflects extreme emotions for traditional fighting fans. The rematch could very well turn into a boxing slugfest with both men exchanging hard blows. With both the fighters having such incredible power in their punches, it’s very hard to see the fight going the distance.
Our pick for the fight is Diablo – Nick Diaz, as a few weeks ago, Diaz was spotted training with WBC Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury and it seems like Diablo is looking to add more boxing skills to his arsenal to finish Lawler before the final bell.
[Image Credit: KampfgeistMMA]
Shashank Iyer