By The Numbers: Nick Diaz

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Nick Diaz, for better and for worse, pursued mixed martial arts his way.

The Cesar Gracie-trained Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt arrived on the scene in 2001, captured championships in multiple promotions and pieced together a stellar resume across 37 professional appearances. A heroic figure in anti-establishment circles, Diaz failed multiple drug tests for marijuana use—one of which cost him a signature gogoplata submission victory over Takanori Gomi under the Pride Fighting Championships banner. The Stockton, California, native has not fought since he lost a unanimous decision to Anderson Silva at UFC 183 on Jan. 31, 2015, though the result was later changed to a no contest when Silva was flagged for PEDs.

As the MMA world awaits Diaz’s next move, here are some of the numbers that have come to define him:

18: Age at which Diaz made his professional MMA debut on Aug. 31, 2001. He submitted Mike Wick with a triangle choke 3:43 into the first round of their encounter at International Fighting Championship Warriors Challenge 15.

11: Promotions in which Diaz has competed. They are the IFC, Ultimate Athlete, Warriors Quest, Shooto, World Extreme Cagefighting, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the International Cage Fighting Organization, Pride, EliteXC, Dream and Strikeforce.

5: Welterweight champions in WEC history, of which Diaz was one. The other four were Shonie Carter, Karo Parisyan, Mike Pyle and Carlos Condit. Diaz won the title on March 27, 2003, when he submitted Joe Hurley with a first-round kimura at WEC 6.

3: Welterweight champions in Strikeforce history, of which Diaz was one. The other two were Nate Marquardt and Tarec Saffiedine. Diaz laid claim to the 170-pound crown at Strikeforce “Miami” on Jan. 30, 2010, when he put away Marius Zaromskis with punches 4:35 into the first round.

8: Submission victories on his resume. Diaz has posted four wins by armbar, two by kimura, one by triangle choke and one by rear-naked choke.

13: Wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 50 percent of Diaz’s career total.

10: First-round finishes to his credit. Diaz’s list of victims includes Zaromskis, Koji Oishi, Paul Daley, Hayato Sakurai, Katsuya Inoue and Drew Fickett.

84: Seconds needed to knock out Oishi at UFC 53 on June 4, 2005. It remains the fastest stoppage victory of Diaz’s career.

178: Significant strikes landed—a career-high for Diaz—in a unanimous decision over B.J. Penn in the UFC 137 main event on Oct. 29, 2011.

240: Combined victories between the nine fighters who have defeated him. Joe Riggs leads the way with 49, followed by Sean Sherk (36), Diego Sanchez (30), Condit (30), Georges St. Pierre (26), Parisyan (24), Kuniyoshi Hironaka (23), K.J. Noons (13) and Jeremy Jackson (nine).

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