Robbie Lawler has won the people’s main event at UFC 266 against Nick Diaz. Diaz lost the fight Via TKO in Round 3. Let’s discuss a few reasons’ why Nick Diaz lost his comeback fight against Robbie Lawler.
Certainly, Nick wasn’t in the best shape of his career. For which the fight which was scheduled in welterweight changed into a middleweight fight on Nick’s request. When in the fight Nick even looked 20 pounds heavier than Lawler. While many would argue that it favors Nick. But, putting up weight doesn’t certainly change the sharpness in fighting. It is no secret that Nick is past his prime. So being heavy was never going to help him anyway rather it slowed him down.
Nick Diaz’s shots lacked power
Now in the first round Diaz started with a ton of volume. In the first round the fight was equal or even better for Diaz. But, after entering into the second Diaz stopped putting power into his punches. Which made it easier for Lawler to react to them all. The Diaz brothers have always been known for their volume punches and stamina. But, Nick striking without power didn’t compliment the volume punches at all.
Nick Diaz Was coming of a Long Lay off
Diaz returned to fighting after a long hiatus of 5 years. On the other hand, Robbie fought his last fight in 2020. So for a fighter who is coming off from such a long gap and fighting with so much expectation it’s never easy. Diaz even accepted the same before the fight that he shouldn’t be fighting robbie.Which he repeated again in the post-fight octagon interview.
Another factor that worked against Diaz was that he was unable to hold positions against Robbie while clinching. Thus, was unable to do a lot of damage and in return he had to absorb a lot of it.
As Nick wasn’t punching with power it gave Lawler the opportunity to put pressure on Diaz with his power. In round two Robbie sort of bullied Diaz against the fence as he shoved him backwards when Nick was Trying to circle out. Also, unlike Diaz, Lawler was landing bigger shots to his body with big knees and attacking with hooks.
Though it was not a pleasant outcome for the fans of Nick Diaz they got an opportunity to see him perform in the octagon one more time.