People around the world will watch Nate Diaz fight on pay-per-view on Aug. 28, but on Saturday he was in St. Albert to lead a training session.
The 25-year-old Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter was in the area after being invited by Aggression MMA (mixed martial arts) to come watch its event in Edmonton Friday night. Luke Harris, the owner of Hayabusa Training Centre, thought it was a great opportunity for the men he trains to learn from a rising star in the sport.
“We’ve sort of become the premier destination in the Edmonton and St. Albert area for seminars,” Harris said.
During a two-hour session Saturday morning, Diaz ran a group of about 20 through some drills, demonstrated some submission holds and gave them some tips on how to fight.
“Pretty much, the basics,” the Stockton, Calif., product said. “A couple of ju-jitsu moves and a couple of tips and stuff, but basically just ju-jitsu.”
Scott Tanner, a 23-year-old plumber and aspiring MMA fighter from St. Albert, said it was great to have some instruction from somebody at Diaz’s level.
“It was awesome, great fun,” he said. “He showed us a lot of good moves that are going to definitely come in handy in tournaments, training, whatever. I mean, it’s good experience having a UFC fighter out here for all of us.”
Tanner, six-foot-one and 255 pounds, has been training at Hayabusa since January of last year, right after it opened and has been focusing on grappling since then. He hasn’t had any professional fights yet, but said after training for another five years and reaching a high enough level where he feels comfortable, he’d like to give it a try.
Diaz first got involved in the sport at the age of 16 when his older brother Nick was 18.
“My brother, he was fighting, training, so I just jumped right in and got on the wagon, hopped on with him,” he said.
Nick was planning on making it up to Alberta, but couldn’t because of passport problems. He is currently the Strikeforce (a rival promotion of the UFC) welterweight champion (156 to 170 pounds) and is on a seven-match winning streak.
Nate had his first fight at 19, a submission win over Alex Garcia in the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) promotion, which recently held an event at Rexall Place.
In 2007, Nate started his MMA career at 5-2, but his most recent loss was for the WEC lightweight title. He entered the Ultimate Fighter competition, a reality show where aspiring fighters compete for a UFC contract. He won the tournament and launched his UFC career.
His record now stands at 12-5 with his most recent victory coming at UFC 111 in March when he knocked out Rory Markham in the first round. The fight was scheduled to be Nate’s first fight at welterweight after moving up from the lightweight division (146 to 155 pounds). However, Markham weighed in at 177 pounds, over the limit, and the fight was changed to a catchweight bout (no particular weight class).
Diaz gets back into the octagon at UFC 118 on Aug. 28 in Boston for his official welterweight debut against Marcus Davis (17-6). Davis lost two fights in a row before knocking out Canadian Jonathan Goulet at UFC 113 in May.
“He’ll come out tough like he always does,” Nate said. “He’s definitely a tough opponent, a worthy opponent, so it’s going to be a tough one.”
Harris is also no stranger to professional mixed martial arts fights. He got into the sport by participating in judo for 25 years, including a stint with the Canadian national team, before moving to MMA. He said he would have been a part of the most recent season of Ultimate Fighter for middleweights (171 to 185 pounds), but tore an ACL and was forced to sit out for six months. However, he said he’ll likely be fighting in the UFC in the next year.
