UFC 143: Nick Diaz's 15 Greatest MMA Moments

Nick Diaz is the most exciting fighter in MMA, which has made for a tremendous amount of great moments throughout his career.

Just in the past year alone, Diaz's fanbase had grown immensely, and he's sort of become this anti-hero. Diaz has been known to flash a finger or two outside of the cage, and since calling out Georges St-Pierre after his exciting bout with B.J. Penn, Diaz has become the hot topic in MMA.

He's an amazing athlete that can take an insane amount of punishment while moving forward and has cardio to last for days. The man swam from Alcatraz, for crying out loud, and the fact that he's crazy enough to Sai fight with his brother Nate in his living room gives you some insight to how different this fighter really is.

He's never shy to throw down with any fighter, talks an uncanny amount of trash with his opponent and just about always has the Fight of the Night. He's sure to have an enjoyable fight Saturday in Las Vegas at UFC 143 when he fights Carlos Condit for the interim welterweight title.

From fighting in Japan to fighting in Strikeforce to fighting in the UFC once again, these are the greatest moments in Diaz's outstanding MMA career.

Honorable Mention

Nick Diaz's First UFC Win

Nick Diaz entered the UFC as a strong jiu-jitsu practitioner, and that was basically his bread and butter back in those days.

His first fight was at UFC 44 against Jeremy Jackson, and Diaz ended up submitting him in the first round with an armbar.

It really is amazing to see how much Diaz has evolved over the past decade.

15. Submission Victory over Josh Neer

I always thought Josh Neer employed the same mentality as the Diaz brothers, so you can imagine how much fun it was to watch Neer and Nick Diaz go at it.

At UFC 62, Diaz, after battling it out on his feet, decided to take the fight to the ground in the third round.

Once the fight hit the ground, Diaz worked in side control and pulled off a beautiful Kimura, and Neer was forced to tap out.

14. Submission Victory over Cyborg

The second this fight was announced last January, I knew Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos would come at Nick Diaz aggressively.

He did just that as he mixed leg kicks with head kicks and tested Diaz's toughness, but Diaz showed Santos just how tough he was when he walked through Santos' strikes.

The fight was all but over once it hit the ground, as Diaz caught Santos in an armbar with 10 seconds left in the second round.

13. Submission Victory over Hayato Sakura

Hayato Sakura seemed to catch Nick Diaz off-guard at Dream 14 when he caught him early with a left hook.

However, Diaz weathered the storm like he always does, and he reminded his foe just how dangerous he is on the ground.

After Sakura took the fight to the ground, Diaz pulled off a gorgeous armbar, and it was "Good Night Irene," as Michael Schiavello would say.

12. Karo Parisyan Fight

This fight was a barn-burner.

If you like grappling, you absolutely loved this fight.

They swapped positions back and forth, and ultimately Karo Parisyan would earn the split decision victory. Many believed Diaz deserved to win the decision, but everyone will remember this fight for having some of the best grappling exchanges in UFC history.

11. Dismantling Scott Smith

Scott Smith is a tough guy, but he was completely outclassed by Nick Diaz in the summer of 2009.

This was another case of Diaz's unparalleled cardio and relentless pace wearing down his opponent. Diaz really hurt Smith with the body punches and really showed off his boxing skills at this Strikeforce event.

Smith absorbed a lot of shots, but Diaz would eventually pull off a rear-naked choke in the third round.

10. Loss to K.J. Noons

This was Diaz's last loss, and since then Diaz has stepped up his game tremendously.

You never want to say that a loss is good, but after losing to Noons, Diaz is on a current 11-fight win streak and has taken the next step in his MMA career.

Most champions always point to one moment that turned everything around for them, and for Diaz, it could very well be this one moment.

9. Diego Sanchez Fight

This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite Nick Diaz fights.

This is one of the greatest fights in UFC history. After watching scramble after scramble, Diego Sanchez was awarded with the razor-thin decision.

But make no mistake about it—this fight will forever be remembered by the hardcore MMA fans as the fight that dropped their jaw in awe with one transition after another.

8. Robbie Lawler KO

If you didn't know who Nick Diaz was before he fought Robbie Lawler, you certainly knew who he was after he KO'd this rising star in 2004.

Lawler was built up as the next big thing in the UFC as he was coming off of impressive victories over Chris Lytle, Tiki Ghosn, Steve Berger and Aaron Riley. That all changed once he fought Diaz.

Diaz showed the UFC how great his boxing skills were, and his trash-talking throughout the fight was the birth of his legend. Now, fans expect to see Diaz talking in the cage while striking with his opponents.

7. Marius Zaromskis TKO

This was the moment that Nick Diaz became Strikeforce's welterweight champion.

Diaz was fighting Marius Zaromskis, who was being built up as the next Mirko Cro Cop for the way he knocked people out with head kicks, for the vacant title in 2010.

This fight did not disappoint. After Diaz regrouped and teed off on Zaromskis before finishing him off with a beautiful combination, he became Strikeforce's first welterweight champion.

6. K.J. Noons Rematch

This was another classic fight, but at this point, it's expected out of Nick Diaz.

Diaz and K.J. Noons had some unfinished business to settle in 2010, and they put everything they had into the cage.

After five rounds of beating each other to a bloody pulp, Diaz was awarded with the unanimous decision.

5. Frank Shamrock TKO

Fighting Nick Diaz would be the last time Frank Shamrock mixed it up inside the cage before announcing his retirement in 2010.

Diaz showed the evolution of his striking as he picked Shamrock apart on the feet, eventually wearing down Shamrock in the second round.

Diaz would finish it in the second round with another classic Diaz combination.

4. Paul Daley TKO

This is one of the most exciting rounds you'll ever find in MMA.

Paul Daley and Nick Diaz went at it, and after both fighters were rocked by one another, Diaz would ultimately get the last laugh with a first-round TKO.

Diaz's pace and relentless striking proved to be the difference in this fight, and he would show the world that his chin is made of granite after surviving power shots from this heavy-handed Brit.

3. Primetime

If you haven't watched the latest UFC Primetime featuring Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit, you have to go watch it right now.

This was one of the best documentary pieces that I've ever seen, and I believe it's going to do wonders for Diaz's popularity.

Finally, the world got to see just who this Nick Diaz really was and why he acts the way he does. I expect this documentary to turn a lot of those boos into cheers for Diaz, and it's nice to see a documentary sum up everything about this complicated individual into five minutes.

The picture of Diaz in second grade with his fist cocked and ready to go was priceless.

2. Gogoplata!

Although this fight would end in a no contest because of Diaz testing positive for marijuana, the fact that he defeated Takanori Gomi by gogoplata is an amazing achievement.

At the time, Diaz was fighting one of the greatest lightweights in the world in Gomi, and Diaz showed just how amazing his skills were when he outstruck Gomi and pulled off the sensational submission victory.

Even though it was surrounded by controversy, Diaz's gogoplata submission victory will always be considered as one of the great submission victories in MMA lore.

1. Victory over B.J. Penn

Anytime you defeat a legend like B.J. Penn, it instantly has to become your top highlight.

When Diaz and Penn went to war at UFC 137, it was exactly how fans imagined it would be—exciting.

Both fighters went at it, and after wearing down Penn both mentally and physically, Diaz would pull away with the decision victory. Better yet, I've never seen anyone mess up Penn's face like that in a fight that was spent its majority on the feet.

Even with a great victory over a legend like Penn, the ultimate highlight could come in less than two weeks.

A victory over Carlos Condit to become the interim UFC welterweight champion would be a fitting climax to a more than fascinating career.