![]() ![]() ![]() He won his first two fights but eventually lost in the finals to Jeremy Jackson by TKO. ĭiaz was then invited to participate in Ultimate Athlete's King of the Mountain, a single-night tournament that took place two months later. Diaz became a champion in his second professional fight, defeating Chris Lytle for the IFC Welterweight Championship in July 2002 at IFC Warriors Challenge 17. Diaz became a professional mixed martial arts fighter in 2001 just after his 18th birthday and won his first fight, submitting Mike Wick with a triangle choke at IFC Warriors Challenge 15. Prior to his official professional debut, Diaz engaged in unsanctioned bare knuckle MMA matches. After her death, Diaz would run to his girlfriend's grave every day to tell her he would become the fighter she always wanted him to be. Prior to his debut professional mixed martial arts fight, Diaz's girlfriend, Stephanie died by suicide by walking in front of traffic. He was promoted to black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu by Cesar Gracie on May 8, 2007. Around the same time, after seeing Renzo Gracie in the Pride Fighting Championships, he started training mixed martial arts under Steve Heath at the Animal House gym before joining Cesar Gracie's team. He started training in sambo at the age of 16 under Bulgarian National Sambo Champion Valeri Ignatov. While a freshman, he was a member of the swim team. Diaz attended Tokay High School in Lodi, California, for a year before dropping out. Diaz began training in karate and aikido from a young age and also participated in wrestling tournaments during his teenage years. Nick has a younger brother, Nate and a younger sister Nina who were mostly raised by their mother Melissa as their father was not around much. Background ĭiaz was born and raised in Stockton, California. Nick is the older brother of former UFC fighter Nate Diaz, with the pair of brothers being one of the biggest influences in the sport of MMA. He also notably competed in PRIDE, EliteXC, DREAM, and Shooto. Diaz is a former Strikeforce, WEC and IFC welterweight champion and a UFC title challenger. Nickolas Robert Diaz (born August 2, 1983) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). ![]()
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