Diaz vs. Maynard III at TUF 18 Finale
Nate Diaz (16-9) and Gray “The Bully” Maynard (11-2-1) will fight for the 3rd time at the TUF 18 Finale, on November 3, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Diaz and Maynard first met in a non-official bout, that was a semifinal on the 5th season of The Ultimate Fighter “TUF”; a bout that Diaz won by Guillotine choke. The 2nd time they met Maynard would walk away with a split decision win, in what was the main event of UFC Fight Night 20.
After a 4 fight stint a Welterweight, in Diaz went 2-2; he would returned and go on a tear win 3 in a row to earn a Lightweight title shot. Diaz would lose to then champion Benson Henderson by unanimous decision. Most recently Diaz suffered a TKO loss to Josh Thompson at UFC on Fox 7.
After 9 consecutive win earned Gray Maynard a Lightweight title against then champion Frankie Edgar, the UFC 125 main event would be judged a draw. In the rematch Edgar would knockout Maynard in round 2. Maynard in his next outing would bounce back to earn a split decision victory over Clay Guida. Maynard will again be looking to bounce back after having been defeated by TJ Grant at UFC 160 by TKO.