Nick and Nate Diaz and the Top Five Brother Duos Ever
Since MMA's inception, the general concept of family has been an integral part of a sport that is often billed as individualistic.
Now more than ever the sport has seen family competition, with fathers training sons, brothers fighting on the same cards, and overall family camaraderie on high display.
The Gracie family popularized the idea of one style being better than another, with numerous fighters and families have tried to disprove the Gracie theory, with not very many proving successful.
Take Royce Gracie for example at UFC 1. After his impressive wins over Art Jimmerson, Ken Shamrock, and Gerard Gordeau, Gracie realized his family's true purpose: proving his family's style was the best in the world. Surely a better feeling than any belt or dollar can give a fighter.
Flash forward to UFC 128 in New Jersey. Dan and Jim Miller of Sparta, N.J., fight in front of their hometown crowd at the Prudential Center. Though Dan lost and Jim won, nothing will take away the experience the brothers had that night.
And so, brotherly love has been redefined in and outside of the octagon. However, one question remaining is which brotherly duo is the best MMA has to offer?
5. Fedor and Aleksander Emelianenko
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Just in case you're wondering, that fella on the left of the photo above is the third Emelianenko brother, Ivan, who is 21 years old now and is training in MMA as well.
It is the two prominent Emelianenko brothers though, that have been in the MMA world since the early 2000's, with older brother typically Fedor garnering the majority of media attention between the siblings.
Let's not be so quick to judge, though. Let me remind you Fedor freaks that Aleksander the great has an impressive 17-4 record, with 11 (T)KO's and 4 submission wins.
Granted, the younger Emelianenko has had less formidable competition when compared to brother Fedor, but formidable is in the eye of the beholder.
His only losses have come to Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Josh Barnett, Fabricio Werdum and recently Peter Graham.
Fedor has had a tough go of it lately himself, losing his last two fights to Antonio "Pezao" Silva and Werdum. Take away those two losses though, and he's lost once in the last 11 years.
Well, acceptable for any MMA fighter not currently named Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, and Georges St. Pierre.
When adding the two brothers' records, the numbers are staggering. Staggering enough to be a sentence all by itself.
48-7.
Enough said. The Emelianenko duo is one of MMA's most successful brother tandems ever.
4. Joe and Danny Lauzon
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Joe and Danny Lauzon are your typical, atypical underdog duo. When they first entered the UFC as young bloods, they were thrown into stiff UFC competition with the likes of Jens Pulver and Spencer Fisher.
Dan did not win his debut against Fisher, losing via TKO in the first round. Even with the loss, Dan set the record for being the UFC's youngest fighter to step into the Octagon at 18 years, 7 months and 14 days old.
Dan's had lots of success everywhere except the UFC, but at the young age of 23, the sky is the limit for the young exciting Lauzon.
Older brother Joe, however, shocked the MMA world from the start when he floored Pulver moments into their fight. Joe went on to pull off one of MMA's greatest upsets ever with the win over the MMA legend and has continued his success throughout his career, going 5-3 since the win over Pulver, losing gritty fights to top contenders George Sotiropoulos and Kenny Florian.
Combined, the two brothers are 33-10, and have quite possibly the most left in the tank for their careers out of any brother tandem on this list.
Joe is slated to fight Curt Warburton this June at UFC Live 4, while brother Dan is recovering from a stabbing outside of a night club last February, but was recently announced to be fighting Noah Weisman at World Championship Fighting 11 for the promotion's Lightweight championship.
3. Jim and Dan Miller
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The Miller brothers have been known as scrappy, gritty hard-nosed fighters since they entered the MMA world in 2005.
As of late, younger brother Jim has been on a tear in the UFC lightweight division, winning his last six fights and recently dispatching of WEC veteran Kamal Shalorus at UFC 128. The streak has dramatically shot Jim up the ever-so-deep lightweight division.
Jim looks primed for a shot at the title, but will have to wait his turn in line behind Gray Maynard and possibly Anthony Pettis.
Miller's name has also recently been mentioned in talks about a title shot at Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, to which Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker denied saying, "There’s going to be a lot of rumors flying back and forth, around fights and what’s going to happen, but they’re not based on fact."
Compared to his younger brother, Dan has had a tougher go in the UFC lately, losing four of his last six fights to high-quality opponents like Nate Marquardt, Chael Sonnen, and Michael Bisping. Dan's remained strong though, and will get some much needed time off before stepping back into the octagon.
The brothers combined are 33-7, with 19 of the 33 wins coming via submission. Even more astounding is the way they've lost, with all seven losses coming via decision.
As shown by their impressive record, when you step into the octagon against one of the Miller clan, expect to come out knowing you've been in a fight, win or lose.
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2. The Nogueira Brothers
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Perhaps one of the most recognized brother tandems in the sport, the Nogueira brothers are known around MMA forums as "Big Nog" or "Little Nog" and not too much else.
But in the octagon, the duo are known primarily for their endurance and intestinal fortitude in a sport that easily saps fighters of those two commodities rather quickly.
Born the same day, the Nogueiras have been a recognized staple in MMA since the early 2000's. Big Nog is arguably the more well-known brother, starring on "The Ultimate Fighter" show in its eighth season alongside former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir.
The elder Nogueira also is one of four men to hold championship gold underneath the Pride and UFC banners. He's currently slated to fight Brendan Schaub at UFC 134, better known as UFC: Rio, in late August.
Little Nog, becoming more popular to American MMA fans daily, was one of Pride's more successful fighters from 2002-2005. Nogueira was 8-2 in Pride, with wins over Guy Mezger, Kazushi Sakuraba, Dan Henderson, and Alistair Overeem (twice).
His only losses came to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. He's lost his last two fights to top contenders Phil Davis and Ryan Bader, but will look to rebound against Rich Franklin in August at UFC 133.
Together, the brothers have combined for a 51-11 record, and have built their legacy up from the ground - the Nogueiras are deservedly the toughest twins in the sport.
1. Nick and Nate Diaz
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The Diaz brothers are controversial, cocky, confident, brash, and every other crude word you can associate with MMA fighters. But damn, they're good, and they are arguably the top brother tandem in the UFC, and in the world.
Both Nate and Nick are by and far the closest brothers when it comes to fighting, as each builds off the success of the other every time out, and elevates their compete level to do the same.
They also aren't the strongest fighters, and won't 'wow' anyone with their pure skill like a Georges St. Pierre or a Jon Jones, but the Diaz clan knows how to pick apart foes methodically better than anyone else.
As if training with studs like Gilbert Melendez and Jake Shields weren't enough, they are stout practitioners of Caesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, and they know their way around a mat all day every day.
Nate has been on the losing end of some very tough decisions lately, with his latest loss coming to rising star Rory MacDonald. Undoubtedly, Nate will rebound like he always does, and will probably have another tough fight in the near future underneath the UFC banner.
Nick, on the other hand, has won his last 10 in a row dating back to 2007, when he lost to K.J. Noons in EliteXC, a fight he redeemed himself for when he decisioned Noons in late 2010. Diaz has recently been mentioned in talks about a possible superfight against Welterweight kingpin Georges St. Pierre.
The toughest brothers in the business are 38-14 combined and can only look to improve that in the coming years.
Honorable Mentions
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The Overeem Bros.
The Shamrock Bros.
The Guida Bros.
The Rua Bros.
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