Nate Diaz vs. Tony Ferguson: Dream Matchup?

Overtime Heroics Editorial

583 days ago

Can a picture really be worth a thousand words? Well in the case of Nate Diaz (20-13) it’s worth at least 280 characters. The younger Diaz brother recently took to Twitter where he posted a cryptic picture of former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson (25-6) with no captions. The image quickly drew the attention of both fighters and fans alike, even Las Vegas jumped in on the action, by placing Ferguson as the slight betting favorite over Diaz from an odds standpoint. All that attention aside though this fight is not even close to being official, with UFC president Dana White going as far as saying it’s not a match-up he and his team are even looking at right now.

Diaz Calls Out Ferguson, Sort of…

With a single fight remaining on his contract, is this a possible power move by Diaz to be able to negotiate from a favorable position with Dana and Co. when the time comes? or is it perhaps an attempt to leave the UFC with a bang to pursue other ventures? Whatever the case may be let’s look at a few reasons why this fight is the possible dream matchup we never knew we needed.

This Is Where The Similaritites Start

Both Diaz and Ferguson are known to fight at lightweight and welterweight and are nearly the same age, with Tony being 37 and Nate being 36. They are similar in height and reach as well with both men coming in at six feet even, but Ferguson does hold the half-inch reach advantage at seventy-six and a half inches. Both men are The Ultimate Fighter winners as well with Diaz winning season five, and Ferguson winning season 13. Both come from a grappling background and are black belts in BJJ, and are known for legendary cardio and granite chins.

More importantly than all the similarities listed above, Nate Diaz and Tony Ferguson are both at a very similar point in their careers with Diaz coming off of back-to-back losses, most recently to Leon Edwards via decision. El Cucuy is currently riding a three-fight skid of his own, most recently to Beneil Dariush. A potential match-up could be a massive boon for both men, but I think the fans would be the REAL winners here.

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