The Diaz brothers are only rivalled by the Nogueiras as the most successful pair of fighting siblings in MMA history.
Nate Diaz finally emerged from his older brother’s shadow when he caused an upset on the grandest stage of all, submitting Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC 196.
From his time on The Ultimate Fighter to his lightweight title shot in 2012, Nate was always one rung behind Nick in the minds of most of the MMA community.
But Nate didn’t mind having the smaller slice of spotlight in the Diaz family because he sees Nick as something of a hero, an idol and admits that he’s the person that motivated him to start fighting.
“I understand why he feels like he got me into this because he did,” Nate said in an in-depth interview on The MMA Hour.
“All the positives that I do, he’s my brother and my training partner and shit but he’s the guy. He’s my guy!
“I’m Cesar Gracie’s Jiu-Jitsu and Richard Perez’s boxing but, as a martial artist, I’m a product of Nick Diaz.
“I give all the positives that I do and all the outcome that comes from it, I credit him and am happy that he put me on this journey.
“And any negatives that come out of anything that happens with me, I feel bad that I let him down in any way … when I say stupid shit on here or whatever. More than everything in my mind it’s like ‘fuck, I hope I didn’t piss Nick off on this one.’
“I don’t feel like that with anybody but that’s my bro and I think he’s the best fighter in the world.”
