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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
On December 8, Nate Diaz will get the chance to fulfill the potential he showed out of winning the Ultimate Fighter's fifth season. The younger Diaz brother started his UFC run off with five consecutive wins, but lost three of his next four fights, all in somewhat similar fashion.
A move to the welterweight division saw him bounce back with consecutive wins, both of which were impressive and decisive, but then the weight issue came into play in back to back bouts with Dong Hyun Kim and Rory MacDonald. However, since moving back to lightweight, he's been reinvigorated, and his three straight wins have gotten him to a fight with Ben Henderson for the UFC Lightweight Championship.
Still, while improvements have clearly been made in Diaz's game over the years, Henderson said this week that the blueprint on defeating Diaz is out there and hasn't changed.
"Every time a fighter does what they're supposed to do, and improves and gets better every fight, I wouldn't say the blueprint goes out the window, but it can be harder to execute the blueprint," Henderson explained in an interview with MMAFighting.com. "Guys leave holes open in their game. Those holes get smaller if you do what you're supposed to do and get better from fight to fight."
"Nate Diaz has shown a big improvement from his early years in the UFC and he's made those holes a lot smaller, but I think the blueprint is definitely still out there on how to beat Nate. It's not just, ‘Oh, we think you've got to do this. We think you've got to do this.' No, if you want to beat him, you've got to do A, B, C, and D. And then you beat him. Period. You're done."
Penick's Analysis: Henderson's got the type of wrestling game that has been an issue for Diaz in the past, and the fact that Henderson's been impossible to submit in his career makes things even tougher on Diaz. Still, as Henderson admits, knowing how to beat someone and executing that plan can be two different things, and he's going to have a very tough opponent in Diaz come Dec. 8. But if he can find success doing what others have done to Diaz in the past, adding his own wrinkle to the proceedings, then he'll walk out of Seattle with the belt still around his waist.
Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_14739.shtml
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