I was shocked with the way that fight played out. I mean Cerrone was a guy coming off consecutive wins while destroying his opponents, and Diaz beat the **** out of him for 3 rounds. I was also shocked with the way Cerrone approached the fight. It seems that the pre-fight bull**** affected him a great deal (while Nate did what he always does I suppose) and he came into the fight thinking he would somehow pull a Johny Hendricks on Diaz. After his first assault had no effect and Diaz landed about 50 punches on his face in the first minute of the round, he seemed to have no gameplan at all. He had success with the kicks, but he didn't use them nearly as much as he should have. Basically, the way the fight was going (with Nate overwhelming him and Cerrone not moving his head at all), his only way of success would be to either land a bomb that would hurt Diaz (slim chance of that happening), or kick him till he couldn't kick anymore. Taking nothing away from Nate, of course. But it seemed to me that Cerrone for some odd reason (maybe he got too emotional pre-fight) thought he could steamroll Diaz, and when he found out that it wouldn't be that easy, he was already beaten mentally.
Cerrone at the weigh ins and in the fight, simply looked intimidated by Diaz. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the 155 pound division cope with Nate Diaz and the approach he brings to fights.
I sensed that too. He tried to look cool and tough at the weigh ins, but I thought that you could tell he was somewhat intimidated. That's probably why he fought scared. Yep.
Cerrone had to be the favourite. He was riding a big wave, looking awesome and executing strategies. His stand up looked good but it goes to show the confidence the Diaz bro's have in their confidence. This fight never came away from the boxing. Cerrone balance and footwork was terrible, he must thought head movement was illegal and his chin was straight up in the air. He is a tough SOB though. Nate still gets wrestle ****ed but you'd have guess he could stand with everyone except a particularly sharp striker.
i didnt think it was that bad....he took more of a boxing stance thus the easy sweeps...but it's diaz...if he gets put on his ass from a sweep i don't think he minds knowing his bjj will take over if needed
Both Diaz brothers have no concerns at all about being put on their backs, thats why they are so effective with their pressure boxing, they are not tentative in the slightest & concentrate on getting their punches off while their opponents usually do have those concerns.
i remeber hearing cerrone in an interview saying he was scared as hell before entering the octagon b4 every fight. So all the circus with nate must have destroyed him mentaly its a shame because this could have been a good fight i guess cerrone needs to control his emotions
By the last round, Cerrone should've jumped on Diaz when he sweeped him. He was losing the stand-up but the one thing he was having great success with was the sweeps but then would just let Nate back up. I know he was worried about Nates BJJ, but in the 3rd round when he was behind on points, he should've played with fire.
Oops, I meant Cerrone. Diaz wasn't perfect but Cerrones technique was horrible. I always thought he was technically flawed but still much better than what he showed. He couldn't get the hands going so the kicks never got flowing either. In fairness, Cerrone landed some strikes that would trouble other fighters but Diaz was never fazed at any stage. The leg kicks alone would make other fighters switch up quickly.
Cerrone has that upright classic Muay Thai style meaning he doesnt bob and weave , or look to roll shots , that marries up well with Diaz who has a fluent boxing style similar to his brothers , which if applied the right way is pretty effective in MMA I personally thought Diaz won 1 & 3 , and Cerrone 2 , it was a good fight but Diaz was clearly the winner , Cerrone will learn a lot from that fight and come back better Diaz will hopefully fight Gray Maynard
Cerrone let Diaz get into his head. He came out wanting nothing more than to punch Diaz in the face instead of fighting smart. He found out the hard way that Diaz is the better puncher.
