Nate Diaz gets title shot, will wait for winner of Benson Henderson-Frankie Edgar II

Nate Diaz is your next lightweight No. 1 contender.

UFC president Dana White confirmed at Saturday night's UFC on FOX 3 post-event press conference that Diaz did indeed earn a shot at the 155-pound title with his win over Jim Miller.

And while there were reports that Anthony Pettis might still stand in Diaz's path to a title shot, White said Diaz was offered and agreed to stay on the sidelines until he can face the winner of Benson Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar II, which takes place later this year.

White first promised Diaz a title shot during a conference call this past Wednesday. However at a pre-event press conference the following day, he put a little doubt on the potential when he admitted he didn't realize how long of a layoff that would mean for Diaz, with Henderson and Edgar tentatively scheduled to fight in August.

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bout damn time. How about some Nate Diaz appreciation for the way he fights.

Nate's post fight speech was a ADD-OCD treat to listen to

WHAT!!!!!

Good for him, he deserves it. Finishing Jim Miller is a HUGE feather in his cap. Since returning to the lightweight division Nate Diaz has looked incredible.

The Lightweight division is really interesting right now. Pettis is sitting on a two fight win streak, Barboza is on nice win streak as well. Then you have Maynard, who is now a couple of wins away from another title shot (If Edgar doesn't have the belt), Gilbert Melendez is sitting patiently in Strikeforce waiting for his opportunity, Eddie Alvarez was sitting cage side next to Dana White (Obviously Dana wants him in the UFC, as do a lot of fans, including myself) and a bunch of other guys on win streaks below them.

Thought he wouldn't fight Edgar?

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Posted by Twenty20Dollars

Thought he wouldn't fight Edgar?

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He won't, so I don't know what will happen if Edgar gets the title back. Cesar isn't going to train Nate (A Cesar Gracie black belt) to take out Frankie (A Renzo Gracie brown belt) and vice-versa. Nate wouldn't take any fight without Cesar's blessing and I have a hard time seeing Cesar bend on a century old Gracie family rule. I guess we'll never know if Benson retains, but if Frankie wins I'm curious to see how it would unfold.

Man did i do shitty on picks tonight

he deserves it, awesome performance against miller.

I really want to see Diaz vs Pettis , Diaz stays active and fans get an exciting fight

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Posted by GettinsomeBas

I really want to see Diaz vs Pettis , Diaz stays active and fans get an exciting fight

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If Edgar wins, I think we just might see that.

The fact that I had my worst event ever meant absolutely nothing to me when Diaz finished Miller. Hell, seeing Belcher finish Palhares the way he did had me snows up enough.

Diaz smashes all. Barboza, Pettis, Frankie, Bendo, whoever.

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Posted by pmoney

The fact that I had my worst event ever meant absolutely nothing to me when Diaz finished Miller.

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Same, I thought I was 12-0 when I saw the tap. Didn't care anymore about the other fights. Nate isn't just winning he's absolutely crushing the top competition in the world at 155. Scary to think how young he is. I poured out some liquor for you since you were working and had to catch it on DVR.

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Posted by Kpro

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Posted by pmoney

The fact that I had my worst event ever meant absolutely nothing to me when Diaz finished Miller.

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Same, I thought I was 12-0 when I saw the tap. Didn't care anymore about the other fights. Nate isn't just winning he's absolutely crushing the top competition in the world at 155. Scary to think how young he is. I poured out some liquor for you since you were working and had to catch it on DVR.

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This.

THE CHAMP IS HERE

Pettis has said he wants no.1 contender fight with Diaz.

Personally, all I want to see right now is Pettis/Henderson 2, WEC days

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Posted by Twenty20Dollars

Pettis has said he wants no.1 contender fight with Diaz.

Personally, all I want to see right now is Pettis/Henderson 2, WEC days

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both of these are what i would like to see. I think i would lean more towards diaz pettis, but man these are dream matchups.

Diaz vs Pettis FTW

Diaz vs Pettis would be epic.

Seems everyone now is waiting or willing to wait.

Condit waiting for GSP

Hendricks I think said he'll wait for winner of Condit/GSP

Diaz waiting for winner of Edgar/Henderson 2

Belcher maybe waiting for a shot

And Hendo was waiting

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Posted by Twenty20Dollars

Seems everyone now is waiting or willing to wait.

Condit waiting for GSP

Hendricks I think said he'll wait for winner of Condit/GSP

Diaz waiting for winner of Edgar/Henderson 2

Belcher maybe waiting for a shot

And Hendo was waiting

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At welterweight and lightweight, it annoys me how impeded the progress at the top has become. I give St. Pierre a pass, but Condit should have fought once between February and November, when he will likely fight for a title unification. The idea of an interim title strikes me as funny when its purpose is to find a healthy champion to fight contenders while the other champion is sidelined. Lightweight needs to sort itself out after the Henderson/Edgar rematch that should never have happened and start working through its deep roster. It could be the same at middleweight, but very few have been heavily anticipating to see the new guys vie for a title shot.

As a side effect of the mess at welterweight and lightweight, Dana White has committed what seems like a dozen fighters to title shots or strongly being "in the mix" and we see them move to the sidelines and wait or for him to pull back as soon as he realized it won't work. Nate Diaz has a title shot now, but I won't believe it until there's a fight signed.

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Posted by lohmann

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Posted by Twenty20Dollars

Seems everyone now is waiting or willing to wait.

Condit waiting for GSP

Hendricks I think said he'll wait for winner of Condit/GSP

Diaz waiting for winner of Edgar/Henderson 2

Belcher maybe waiting for a shot

And Hendo was waiting

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At welterweight and lightweight, it annoys me how impeded the progress at the top has become. I give St. Pierre a pass, but Condit should have fought once between February and November, when he will likely fight for a title unification. The idea of an interim title strikes me as funny when its purpose is to find a healthy champion to fight contenders while the other champion is sidelined. Lightweight needs to sort itself out after the Henderson/Edgar rematch that should never have happened and start working through its deep roster. It could be the same at middleweight, but very few have been heavily anticipating to see the new guys vie for a title shot.

As a side effect of the mess at welterweight and lightweight, Dana White has committed what seems like a dozen fighters to title shots or strongly being "in the mix" and we see them move to the sidelines and wait or for him to pull back as soon as he realized it won't work. Nate Diaz has a title shot now, but I won't believe it until there's a fight signed.

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The other champs need to take note of Jones on how to keep what was thought to be a stacked division nice and tidy.

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Posted by Kpro

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Posted by pmoney

The fact that I had my worst event ever meant absolutely nothing to me when Diaz finished Miller.

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Same, I thought I was 12-0 when I saw the tap. Didn't care anymore about the other fights. Nate isn't just winning he's absolutely crushing the top competition in the world at 155. Scary to think how young he is. I poured out some liquor for you since you were working and had to catch it on DVR.

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That's a good man, Kpro I agree with your sentiment 100%. Nate is still a young man, he is just starting to grow in to that man strength. With that and his skills.... Well we are seeing the fruits of that right now.

I actually got really lucky and got to see the whole card! When the Diaz fight started at like 6:50, I thought I might not get to see the whole thing before I had to leave for work. Fortunately, Nate fulfilled my chat prediction of a finish (you know I said it guys!) and I even had time to stop at Starbucks before I went in

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Posted by ncordless

The other champs need to take note of Jones on how to keep what was thought to be a stacked division nice and tidy.

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Some calculations related to time:

Junior Dos Santos's first attempted title defense comes 176 days after winning the title.

Jon Jones, to this date, has defended his title 3 times in 414 days, for an average of 2.6 title defenses per year.
Jon Jones, should he defend his title on September 1st, will have defended his title 4 times in 543 days, for an average of 2.7 title defenses per year.

Anderson Silva, to this date, has defended his title 9 times in 2031 days, for an average of 1.6 title defenses per year.
Anderson Silva, should he defend his title on July 7, will have defended his title 10 times in 2093 days, for an average of 1.7 title defenses per year.
Since winning the title, Anderson Silva has fought 12 times in 2031 days, for an average of 2.2 fights per year.
Anderson Silva, should he fight on July 7, will have fought 13 times in 2093 days, for an average of 2.3 fights per year.

Georges St. Pierre, to this date, has defended his title 6 times in 1478 days, for an average of 1.5 title defenses per year.
Should Georges St. Pierre fight on November 1, he will have defended his title 7 times in 1657 days, for an average of 1.5 title defenses per year.
Carlos Condit, should he fight November 1 against Georges St. Pierre, will have waited 271 days between his fight when he won the interim title and his next fight.
Since Georges St. Pierre defeated Matt Serra, the welterweight title or its interim version have been fought for 7 times in 1478 days, or 1.7 times per year.
Should George St. Pierre and Carlos Condit happen November 1, the welterweight title will have had been fought for 8 times in 1657 days, or 1.8 times per year.

To date, since BJ Penn lost to Frank Edgar, the lightweight title has been fought for 4 times in 617 days, for an average of one fight every 154 days or 2.4 times per year.
Barring immediate rematches, including BJ Penn vs. Frank Edgar I, the lightweight title has been fought for 3 times in 757 days, for an average of one fight every 252 days or 1.4 times a year.

Since the WEC has gone defunct (December 16, 2010), Jose Aldo has defended his title - to date - 3 times in 507 days or 2.2 times per year.
Should he defend his title successfully against Eric Koch, Jose Aldo will have defended his title 4 times in 538 days or 2.7 times per year.

Since the WEC has gone defunct, Dominick Cruz has defended his title - to date - 2 times in 507 days or 1.4 times per year.
Should he defend his title successfully against Urijah Faber, Dominick Cruz will have defended his title 3 times in 522 days or 2.1 times per year.

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Any number below two is a bad thing. Those numbers doubly annoy me because of the two divisions that suffer the logjams happening to be, at least currently, the deepest divisions in fighting.

Some of these guys get passes though b/c of injury lately.

JDS fought Cain with injury then had to get that fixed.

Anderson injury or two.

Condit I think should get a pass because of all the opponent switching he had happen to him. Could have been a Diaz rematch in there if there was no complications there.

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Posted by lohmann

Georges St. Pierre, to this date, has defended his title 6 times in 1478 days, for an average of 1.5 title defenses per year.
Should Georges St. Pierre fight on November 1, he will have defended his title 7 times in 1657 days, for an average of 1.5 title defenses per year.
Since Georges St. Pierre defeated Matt Serra, the welterweight title or its interim version have been fought for 7 times in 1478 days, or 1.7 times per year.
Should George St. Pierre and Carlos Condit happen November 1, the welterweight title will have had been fought for 8 times in 1657 days, or 1.8 times per year.

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are you just going to ignore that GSP had to do a TUF stint and just blew his ACL?

I've said it many times before but Pettis is not near #1 contender status yet. He should not fight Diaz or for the title this year. Let him beat a top 10 fighter before making these claims

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Posted by Bubbles

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Posted by lohmann

Georges St. Pierre, to this date, has defended his title 6 times in 1478 days, for an average of 1.5 title defenses per year.
Should Georges St. Pierre fight on November 1, he will have defended his title 7 times in 1657 days, for an average of 1.5 title defenses per year.
Since Georges St. Pierre defeated Matt Serra, the welterweight title or its interim version have been fought for 7 times in 1478 days, or 1.7 times per year.
Should George St. Pierre and Carlos Condit happen November 1, the welterweight title will have had been fought for 8 times in 1657 days, or 1.8 times per year.

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are you just going to ignore that GSP had to do a TUF stint and just blew his ACL?

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Why wouldn't he?

Yeah no matter what way you slice it, almost 700 days away from competition at the earliest? I don't even know why GSP hasn't been stripped other than probably contractual clauses that champions have. He's going to take longer than Mir to recover.

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Posted by Bubbles

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Posted by lohmann

Georges St. Pierre, to this date, has defended his title 6 times in 1478 days, for an average of 1.5 title defenses per year.
Should Georges St. Pierre fight on November 1, he will have defended his title 7 times in 1657 days, for an average of 1.5 title defenses per year.
Since Georges St. Pierre defeated Matt Serra, the welterweight title or its interim version have been fought for 7 times in 1478 days, or 1.7 times per year.
Should George St. Pierre and Carlos Condit happen November 1, the welterweight title will have had been fought for 8 times in 1657 days, or 1.8 times per year.

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are you just going to ignore that GSP had to do a TUF stint and just blew his ACL?

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My post was not about variables but about progress at the top. If you want more calculations, here you go:

Between the date Georges St. Pierre won the title and the date he last defended it, prior to his prolonged injury, he defended the title 6 times in 1106 days, or 2.0 times per year.

Between the date Georges St. Pierre won the title and the date he fought Dan Hardy, the fight he had before coaching The Ultimate fighter, he defended the title 4 times in 707 days or 2.1 times per year.

He defended more than Anderson Silva but fought less than him. He is still the least active champion, even prior to coaching TUF or having the injury. Those things just exacerbated his lack of activity.

Anyway, if you read earlier in this thread, I have no problem with St. Pierre taking a break because of injury. Whether or not he should still be called the champion is another issue for another thread. There is a champion at welterweight that isn't GSP, and my issue is with how the division has become stalled, which is probably more Condit's fault this GSP's at this point.

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Posted by Bubbles

I've said it many times before but Pettis is not near #1 contender status yet. He should not fight Diaz or for the title this year. Let him beat a top 10 fighter before making these claims

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Pettis has beat a top ten lightweight. He has also beat a top five lightweight. Actually, he's beat the top lightweight. I think it's fair to make the claim that you can win the title when the champion is somebody you have a relatively recent victory over. Besides, he has just as many top ten wins as Nate Diaz does. The reason he is not getting a title shot is because he lost to Clay Guida at lightweight while Nate Diaz lost to Rory MacDonald at welterweight.

Either way, I'm stoked for any lightweight title fight that isn't a rematch at this point. Pettis is a favorite of mine, but Nate Diaz will be just as fun to watch.

This is going to be a long layoff for Diaz.

I expect fireworks in the rematch between Hernderson and Edgar which will most likely result in a 6 months medical suspension for both fighters which means Diaz is probably looking at seven to eight months of layoff.