Ranking the top 10 most iconic Nate Diaz performances

4: UFC 241 vs Anthony Pettis – ”He ain’t no West Coast gangster”

Ahead of UFC 241 Diaz had lost some of his star power, not much though. He was coming off of a close decision loss in a rematch with arch rival Conor McGregor and was pitted against former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, who had moved up a division and knocked out Stephen ”Wonderboy” Thompson.

On papaer Pettis had the unorthodox, unpredictable style needed to defeat Diaz standing. That was not the case, though.

Diaz have his opponent no space to land flashy kicks, crowing the former champ like a grifter trying to smooch a hit off of you. Diaz began landing solid shots against the cage, nice knees in the clinch and by the end of the fight Pettis’ sharp striking was blunted (get it?), wrapped like a mummy, even.

Diaz had firmly re-established himself near the top of the super star totem pole. After he would make his legendary call out of Jorge Masvidal, the rest is history.