This is a tough one for me, it could go either way, I think the slightly bigger (tho not by much) Diaz`s awesome stamina helps him pull it out in the last rd or 2... they guy doesnt get tired & as good as BJ is, I dont see him stopping Diaz, he`s too tough + Nick has the long reach in a stand-up war & his BJJ is excellent, I see him hanging with Penn on the ground & as said above, pulling away in a close one by being the more energetic in the championship rds. Penn has always been elite, Diaz was always on the verge & was unlucky in losing a few decisions in the UFC but IMO he has improved a lot with age & experience. Thoughts ?
Nick diaz is a horrible sloppy striker , he survives off volume and aggresion , much like paul williams (mind you paul is still much better) while bj has real boxing skills , it would be like pw vs martinez 1, diaz with volume penn with clean effective strikes , id say bj has the bjj edge as well bj penn ud
i suggested this one a couple of months ago and nearly got laughed out of the forum but ill go to my grave saying nick diaz would smoke any version of bj. particularly over 5 rounds
Diaz uses his reach & accuracy to great effect these days when punching, he`s still a bit open defensively but has an iron chin & loves setting a frantic pace - which tbh few can keep up with. As far as BJ having better BJJ, maybe overall he has but I think Diaz is a better BJJ fighter off his back than Penn, he has an incredible guard that rarely (if at all) gets past.
done? He ain't nowhere to being done. He loss to edgar is due to style of match up. Edgar is too quick for bj. Diaz is just bigger than bj but bj has better skills all around. Striking and ground game.
In the imortal words of Nick Diaz, Why you gotta pick on the little guy? Ooo wait but its alright because Nick is the bigger guy in this fight so its ok. Nick won't fight bigger guys yet he won't have a problem fighting smaller guys, the difference BJ isn't a ***** and doesn't care about size. BJ by rear naked choke in the 2nd.
Penn provided compelling match ups against Hughes and GSP but I'm intrigued to see how he does outside of those fights against top contenders who are tough and skilled. Guys like Fitch and Diaz. In shape, at 170, I think Penn is still one of the best ever but it always seems he softens up a bit when he moves up. He has the brillant wins and good performances but I don't know if he can stay as consistently competative. If I had to bet, in shape, I'd bet Penn. Diaz is still getting better.
Penn is too slow paced & disciplined to keep Diaz off him or keep up w/ him. The fight could go to the ground, but I don't see Penn submitting Diaz.
diaz is great off his back but this is just stupid bj is the better grappler maybe he doesn't pull off the subs like diaz but penn is a great positional grappler!