Nick Diaz Biography

Nick Diaz was born Nicholas Robert Diaz, on August 2, 1983, in Stockton, San Joaquin County, California, US, to Robert Diaz and Melissa Lou Diaz. He grew up with his younger brother, Nathan “Nate” Donald Diaz, and his younger sister, Nina.

Diaz has Mexican roots from his father’s side and is of German and English descent through his mother. While growing up in Lodi, California, he attended the Tokay High School but dropped out after a year.

Diaz was 11 when he began training in mixed martial arts (MMA), along with his younger brother, Nate. Nate later grew up to become a professional MMA fighter, too.

Apart from MMA, Nick Diaz also trained in karate and aikido in his younger days. In his teens, he began competing in various wrestling tournaments.

In his high school freshman year, Nick Diaz also became part of the school’s swim team. Diaz and his siblings were mostly raised by their mother, who had a tough time making ends meet.

He was 16 when he began training in sambo under Bulgarian National Sambo Champion Valeri Ignatov. During the same time, he was trained in MMA at the Animal House, under Steve Heath.

He later joined Cesar Gracie's team. In May 2007, he earned a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Diaz initially fought in bare knuckle MMA matches. In 2001, he started professional MMA career and won his first fight, against Mike Wick, at IFC Warriors Challenge 15. In July 2002, Diaz defeated Chris Lytle in his second professional match and won the IFC Welterweight Championship at IFC Warriors Challenge 17.

In 2003, Nick Diaz made his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut at UFC 44, defeating Jeremy Jackson by submission. The same year, Diaz won the WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) Welterweight Championship, at WEC 6, by defeating Joe Hurley by submission.

In the coming years, Diaz had a successful stint with major wins over fighters such as Frank Shamrock and Paul Daley. In the 2005 Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championships, he won a gold and a bronze for the US. In October 2011, he defeated BJ Penn at the Fight of the Night match UFC 137.

One of Diaz’s best fights has been against Georges St-Pierre, former UFC Welterweight Champion. In their 2013 fight at UFC 158, Diaz lost to St-Pierre by a unanimous decision. Diaz announced his first retirement that year. Since then, Diaz struggled to score a win in-spite of his two comeback attempts.

He made his first come-back in the beginning of 2015, in the UFC 183 fight against Anderson Silva (or the Spider). Shortly after Diaz lost the match, it was reported that Diaz had tested positive for cannabis. However, since Silva too tested positive for steroids, the decision win was converted to a no contest.

Interestingly, Diaz had passed two drug tests shortly before his match with Silva but had failed another test for marijuana metabolites. This was also his third failed drug test.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission subsequently fined Diaz $165,000 and suspended him for 5 years, because of failing drug tests multiple times. In January 2016, he appealed against the punishment, following which his suspension was reduced to 18 months and his fine was lowered to $100,000. On August 1, 2016, the suspension was officially lifted. However, due to other technical issues, he was not eligible to compete until April 2018.

Diaz made his second come-back in 2021, in the UFC 266 (middleweight) match, against Robbie Lawler. However, Diaz lost the match after refusing to get up from a knockdown in the first minute of the third round of the bout. The referee ended the fight.

Diaz later defended his loss by stating that he was not in his best shape during his match with Lawler and had been away from the ring for about 6 years. However, MMA fans thought Diaz was just being a bad loser by complaining after his loss. Social media was flooded with criticism from fans.

Apart from UFC, Diaz has also fought in many other promotions, such as EliteXC, PRIDE FC, Shooto, Strikeforce, War MMA, DREAM, and World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC). He is also a former Strikeforce Welterweight Champion.

Nick Diaz now trains young Brazilian jiu-jitsu students at a school that he has launched with his brother, Nate, in California. The Diaz brothers also support cannabis use and are both vegans.

The Diaz brothers have a licensed marijuana pre-roll line, made by California Finest. They run the CBD company Game Up Nutrition, too. In 2013, Diaz launched his own MMA promotion, WAR MMA.