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23 (twenty-three) is the natural number following 22 and preceding 24.

In mathematics[link]

Twenty-three is the ninth prime number, the smallest odd prime that is not a twin prime. Twenty-three is also the fifth factorial prime, the third Woodall prime. It is an Eisenstein prime with no imaginary part and real part of the form 3n − 1.

Twenty-three is the sum of three other, consecutive, prime numbers; 5, 7 and 11. It is the first prime number showing this characteristic.

The fifth Sophie Germain prime and the fourth safe prime, 23 is the next to last member of the first Cunningham chain of the first kind to have five terms (2, 5, 11, 23, 47). Since 14! + 1 is a multiple of 23 but 23 is not one more than a multiple 14, 23 is a Pillai prime. 23 is the smallest odd prime to be a highly cototient number, as the solution to x − φ(x) for the integers 95, 119, 143, 529.

Twenty-three is the aliquot sum of two integers; the discrete semiprimes 57 and 85 and is the base of the 23-aliquot tree.

23 is the first prime P for which unique factorization of cyclotomic integers based on the Pth root of unity breaks down.

The sum of the first 23 primes is 874, which is divisible by 23, a property shared by few other numbers.^[1][2]

In the list of fortunate numbers, 23 occurs twice, since adding 23 to either the fifth or eighth primorial gives a prime number (namely 2333 and 9699713).

23 also has the distinction of being one of two integers that cannot be expressed as the sum of fewer than 9 cubes of integers (the other is 239). See Waring's problem.

23 is a Wedderburn–Etherington number. The codewords in the perfect (non-extended) binary Golay code are of size 23.

According to the birthday paradox, in a group of 23 (or more) randomly chosen people, the probability is more than 50% that some pair of them will have the same birthday.

There were 23 problems on David Hilbert's famous list of unsolved mathematical problems, presented to the International Congress of Mathematicians in Paris in 1900.

In base 10, 23 is the second Smarandache–Wellin prime, as it is the concatenation of the base 10 representations of the first two primes (2 and 3) and is itself also prime. It is also a happy number in base 10. 23! is 23 digits long in base 10. There are only three other numbers that have this property: 1, 22, and 24.

The natural logarithms of all positive integers lower than 23 are known to have binary BBP-type formulae.^[3]

In science[link]

• The atomic number of vanadium.
• The atomic mass number of the stable isotope of sodium.
• Normal human sex cells have 23 chromosomes.^[4] Other human cells have 46 chromosomes, arranged in 23 pairs.^[5]
• Scientific notation for the avogadro constant is written as 6.02214179(30)×10²³ mol^-1.^[6]
• Nobel Prize-winning economist John Forbes Nash, the inspiration for the film A Beautiful Mind, was obsessed with the number 23 and it featured prominently in his nervous breakdown. He claimed that Pope John XXIII was in fact himself, the evidence being that 23 was his favourite number. Nash also published only 23 scientific articles.
• 23 is the width of the Arecibo message, sent to space in search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

In technology[link]

23 is the TCP/IP port used for telnet and is the default for the telnet command.

In religion[link]

• Psalm 23, also known as the Shepherd Psalm, is possibly the most quoted and best known Psalm.^[7] Psalms is also the 23rd book in the Douay–Rheims Bible.
• In Islam, the Qur'an was revealed in a total of 23 years to Muhammad.^[8][9]
• Muslims believe the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, on the 23rd night of the 9th Islamic month.^[10]
• In Abhidharma, the number of anomalous generic types (of a possible 72) - e.g., events are considered sui generis because they are not reducible to either mind or matter — is 23.
• Principia Discordia, the sacred text of Discordianism, holds that 23 (along with the discordian prime 5) is one of the sacred numbers of Eris, goddess of discord.
• The Ancient Chinese believed that numbers conveyed sexuality with even numbers representing femininity and odd representing masculinity. Prime numbers were considered the most masculine and special status was conferred on 23 as it contained not only two consecutive prime numbers (2 and 3) but also the only even prime number.

In popular culture[link]

Sports[link]

Michael Jordan, a star basketball player for the NBA, wore the number 23 on his jersey

The number 23 has been worn by and sometimes retired for a number of few prominent athletes. Michael Jordan wore number 23 when he played professional basketball with the Chicago Bulls and, later, the Washington Wizards -- except immediately following his comeback from baseball, when he wore number 45, and for one game in the 1990-91 season against the Orlando Magic when his jersey was stolen and he wore the number 12. Australian cricketer Shane Warne wore the number 23 during his career; Don Mattingly of the New York Yankees wore number 23; the New York Yankees retired the number in 1997. Ryne Sandberg, of the Chicago Cubs, wore number 23, which was retired on August 28, 2005. Bob Nystrom of the New York Islanders wore number 23 and has had the number retired in his honor. Bob Gainey, ex-General Manager and former player for the Montreal Canadiens, had his number 23 retired February 23, 2008. Australian Football Player Lance Franklin from the Hawthorn Hawks wears the number 23. The all star NHL player Alexander Edler also wore number 23

Manchester City F.C. retired their number 23 shirt in 2003 following the death of Marc-Vivien Foé who had held this squad number at the club. Foé collapsed and died while playing for Cameroon on June 26, 2003. Belgian team Brugge did the same when their number 23, François Sterchele, died in a car accident on May 8, 2008.

Upon signing for Real Madrid from Manchester United in 2003 David Beckham found the number 7 shirt that he had always worn at Manchester and while on England duty occupied by Madrid hero Raúl. He declined the offer of the number 4 shirt recently vacated by departing captain Fernando Hierro and instead picked the number 23 in reference to Michael Jordan.^[11][12] When he then moved to MLS team Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007, he again chose to wear the number 23 jersey. Later, when he was on loan at AC Milan during the American off-season, he wore the reversed number 32 instead as the number 23 was already in use at the club.

In Darts, 23 is "the lowest score you cannot get with a single Dart".

Music[link]

• Alfred Harth uses the number 23 in his artist name Alfred 23 Harth, or A23H, since the year 1+9+8+5 = 23.
• Several songs and albums use the number 23 as their titles, including Tristan Prettyman's debut album, the eleventh song from Tool's fourth full-length studio album 10,000 Days, "Viginti Tres" (Latin for twenty-three).
• Blonde Redhead have the album '23' and the song with the same name.
• Jimmy Eat World's song "23" appeared on their album Futures. The number also appears in the songs "Christmas Card" and "12."23".95" as well as on some items of clothing produced by the band.
• Four tet and Yellowcard both have songs titled "Twenty-Three".
• The Posies have a record called Dear 23
• The Church's 2009 studio album is called "Untitled 23"
• Spiral Tribe From its inception, the group was obsessed by the number 23. Members sometimes recorded under the moniker of SP23, and the record label itself was called Network 23.
• Carbon Based Lifeforms released a 2011 album titled "Twentythree."
• Noah23 has several albums which reference the number 23.
• Luna's song "23 Minutes in Brussels" (featuring Tom Verlaine) appears on their album "Penthouse".

Film and television[link]

• 23 is the jersey number of Nathan Royal Scott - a character on the WB/CW television series One Tree Hill.
• 23 is a German film about Karl Koch
• The Number 23 is a 2007 film starring Jim Carrey.
• 23 is one of The Numbers - 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42 - featured in Lost.
• The 1980s TV series Max Headroom was set at Network 23.
• In The Matrix Reloaded, the Architect tells Neo it is of utmost importance to choose 23 people to repopulate Zion.
• In Jeepers Creepers, the Creeper appears every 23 years for 23 days to feast on human flesh.
• In the film Vantage Point, all flashbacks take place 23 minutes before the assassination attempt on the president.
• As revealed in Japanese film L: Change the World, 23 is the maximum number of days a person may live before he dies by the cause of writing his name in Death Note. Main protagonist L of the film L: Change the World, signs his name in Death Note so to die after 23 days.
• In Monty Python's Life of Brian there are 23 crosses on Calvary.
• In The Big Lebowski, the main characters deliberately use only lane 23 at the bowling alley.
• In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Chewbacca sneak into detention block AA23 to rescue Princess Leia. The rescue attempt is botched and Leia escapes only by dodging Stormtroopers' laserfire. A police robot called 23 is included in Star Wars director George Lucas' first film, THX 1138.

Other fields[link]

• The 23 Enigma plays a prominent role in the plot of the Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson.
• The 23, in South Africa, refers to the 23 conscientious objectors who publicly refused to do military service in the Apartheid army in 1987. The following years the number increased to 143 (in 1988) and 771 (in 1989), with Apartheid being dismantled from 1990 onwards.^[13]
• Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times.^[14]
• In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, within the first dungeon, a deku scrub states "The order is...2 3 1. Twenty-three is number one!" as a hint to defeating his brethren deeper in the dungeon.
• X-23 is a character in the Marvel Universe. She is named for being the 23rd attempt to create a female genetic twin of Wolverine after attempts to create a male clone failed.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 23 (number)

• Article in the British newspaper The Mirror regarding the power of the number 23
• A Portal for 23 Knowledge and Culture
• 23 facts, 23 images, 23 gallery, and links to other 23'svep:23 (lugu)

Nick Diaz
Born	Nicholas Robert Diaz (1983-08-02) August 2, 1983 (age 28) Stockton, California, United States
Other names	El Diablo
Nationality	American [1]
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	169 lb (77 kg; 12 st 1 lb)
Division	Lightweight (2007) Welterweight (2001–2006) – (2008–present)
Reach	76 in (193 cm)
Style	Boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Sambo[2]
Stance	Southpaw
Fighting out of	Stockton, California
Team	Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu El Niño Sports Combat Sports Academy Fairtex Gym
Trainer	Cesar Gracie, Richard Perez, Val Ignatov
Rank	Black Belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
Years active	2001–present
Professional boxing record
Total	1
Wins	1
Mixed martial arts record
Total	35
Wins	26
By knockout	13
By submission	8
By decision	5
Losses	8
By knockout	2
By decision	6
No contests	1
Other information
Notable relatives	Nate Diaz, brother
Website	diazbrothers.com
Boxing record from Boxrec
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
last updated on: 18 September 2011

Nicholas Robert Diaz (born August 2, 1983) is a American mixed martial artist of Mexican descent.^[3] He is the former Strikeforce Welterweight Champion, WEC and IFC Welterweight Champion. He has competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Pride Fighting Championships and Elite Xtreme Combat. Diaz was promoted to black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by Cesar Gracie on May 8, 2007. Diaz trains at the Diaz brother's Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Lodi, California. Diaz holds the distinction of having never been submitted, and has been finished by strikes only once in 35 fights. He is currently ranked the #4 welterweight in the world by Sherdog, ESPN, MMAWeekly,^[4] and USA Today.^[5]

Biography[link]

Diaz was born in Stockton , California. He is the older brother of UFC fighter Nate Diaz. He went to Tokay High School in Lodi for one year before dropping out. While a freshman, he was a member of the swimming team. Diaz has stated in the past that he is thankful his mother got him into swimming classes because swimming is one of the main reasons why his cardio is so impressive during his fights. Diaz has also said on multiple occasions that he had a hard childhood and grew up without his biological father.

Diaz originally started training in martial arts because he was being bullied by other teenagers who were bigger than he was. He then watched the UFC for the first time and soon wanted to be able to fight in the organization. His younger brother, Nathan is also a professional MMA fighter in the Lightweight division and the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 5. Nick also regularly competes in triathlons as part of his training. Diaz started training in Sambo at the age of 16 under a Bulgarian National Sambo Champion Val Ignatov.^[2] In his recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Diaz stated that he still trains Sambo under the same coach hence the reason his ground game is different from other MMA fighters that only train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.^[2]

Mixed martial arts career[link]

After years of practicing various combats sports and martial arts, Diaz became a professional mixed martial arts fighter in 2001 just after his 18th birthday and won his first fight, submitting Mike Wick with a triangle choke at IFC Warriors Challenge 15. Diaz would become a champion in just his second professional fight, defeating Chris Lytle for the IFC United States Welterweight title in July 2002 at IFC Warriors Challenge 17.

Diaz was then invited to participate in Ultimate Athlete's King of the Mountain, a single-night tournament that took place two months later. He won his first two fights but eventually lost in the finals to Jeremy Jackson (fighter) by TKO. Diaz would fight in Warriors Quest and Shooto against Harris "Hitman" Sarmiento and Kuniyoshi Hironaka respectively before winning the WEC's Welterweight Title in 2003 at WEC 6, submitting Joe Hurley with a kimura.

Diaz returned to defend his IFC Welterweight belt against the man who defeated him one year earlier, Jeremy Jackson at IFC Warriors Challenge 18. This time around it was Diaz who was able to get the win, winning by TKO in the first round. Taking notice of his success, the UFC signed Diaz over the summer and he made his debut at UFC 44, completing the trilogy against Jeremy Jackson and submitting him with an armbar in the last round of the back and forth fight that Diaz appeared to be winning on the scorecards.

Rise[link]

Diaz returned to the Octagon at UFC 47, set to take on highly-touted Welterweight Robbie Lawler. Lawler was a heavy favorite coming into the fight but it was Diaz who took the offensive, chasing Lawler around the cage for the majority of the bout. In the second round, Diaz taunted Lawler, who swung wildly and missed, allowing Diaz to connect with a right hook that knocked Lawler out. Diaz was then matched up with Karo Parisyan at UFC 49, but ended up losing a hard-fought split decision. He rebounded with wins over Drew Fickett at UFC 51 and Koji Oishi at UFC 53 before losing for the second time in the UFC at the hands of The Ultimate Fighter Middleweight winner Diego Sanchez at The Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale.

The two came into the fight with a good amount of bad blood between them. They reportedly exchanged heated e-mails before and after the official signing of the fight, which was spurred on by Diaz's public opinion that Sanchez and the rest of The Ultimate Fighter participants were being given an easier path to the top compared to the rest of the fighters in the UFC.

Things went to another level in the locker room before the fight when Diaz taunted Sanchez and threw a shoe at him.[3] Diaz was obviously confident coming into the bout but was unable to achieve success in the match, ultimately losing to Sanchez by unanimous decision. During the televised post-fight interview in the ring, Diaz continued the controversy by declaring that he respected Sanchez fighting ability but did not think he deserved to be there, despite Sanchez's win.

Diaz's next fight was against Joe Riggs at UFC 57. Similar to his treatment of Sanchez, Diaz made sure that he taunted his opponent plenty before their fight starting at the official press conference at the event in which Diaz confronted Riggs and the two exchanged words. They continued their conversation at the official weigh-ins in which both fighters had to be separated by UFC president Dana White and other officials present.

Riggs prevailed in a hard-fought battle, winning by unanimous decision and giving Diaz his second straight loss. After the fight, the two were taken to the hospital for observation and post-fight tests. It was there that Diaz and Riggs had an altercation, but when the police arrived no charges were laid.

Diaz lost his third consecutive match in a unanimous decision to Sean Sherk at UFC 59. The UFC subsequently terminated his contract and released him during the spring of 2006.

Return to UFC[link]

Diaz returned to his hometown of Stockton and participated in the International Cage Fighting Organization's inaugural event, defeating Ray Steinbeiss by split decision. Diaz was slated to fight in his hometown again against John Alessio when he received an unexpected call the night before the fight from the UFC asking to fill in for an ill Thiago Alves at UFC 62.

After Alessio pulled out, Diaz took advantage of the opportunity, submitting Josh Neer in the third round. Seemingly back in the UFC, Diaz stopped newcomer Gleison Tibau with strikes in his next fight at UFC 65. However, even after the win and the reassurance that the UFC would give him another fight, Diaz decided to sign with the Gracie Fighting Championships and leave the UFC.^[6] GFC had Diaz scheduled to fight Thomas Denny in January 2007, but due to poor ticket sales the event was ultimately scrapped.^[6]

Pride FC[link]

Diaz was signed to a two-fight deal with Pride Fighting Championships with the first scheduled to be against current Lightweight champion Takanori Gomi in a non-title fight on February 24 in Las Vegas. Pride 33 was Diaz's first fight in the Pride organization and at the weight of 160 lb. While Gomi started the fight strong, once knocking Diaz to the ground, and twice ending up in his guard, the Californian dominated the standup battle with his unorthodox style, picking his opponent apart with quick and accurate jabs and looping punches.^[7] At the end of the first round, apparently due to poor cardio on Gomi's part, the Japanese fighter was clearly stunned, throwing much wilder punches and barely maintaining his defense. At one point though, the fight was stopped to check a cut suffered under Diaz' eye. The second stanza saw a continuation of wild punches by Gomi, then eventually taking the fight to the ground and leaving himself open to a Gogoplata submission by Diaz and tapping at 1:46 of the round.^[7] This was the second successful Gogoplata attempt in Pride's history (the first performed by Shinya Aoki on Joachim Hansen less than two months earlier at Pride's New Year's event).

On April 10, 2007, the Nevada State Athletic Commission announced that Diaz failed the drug test that was taken shortly before his win over Takanori Gomi, testing positive for marijuana. The NSAC declared the fight a "No Contest" and suspended him for 6 months with a fine of 20% of his earnings ($3,000) won from the fight against Gomi. The Commission felt that the result of Diaz's THC test, an enormous 175, was a contributing factor in his performance during the fight. Commission Chairman Dr. Tony Alamo said that while a result of 15 is considered positive, the NSAC has a threshold of 50 for athletes. He also believes they "feel very comfortable that everyone that tests positive in Nevada is truly positive."

Dr. Alamo went on to say, "Mr. Diaz was 145. This creates a unique situation. I was there at this fight and believe that you were intoxicated and... that it made you numb to the pain. Did it help you win? I think it did." Despite Diaz being surrounded by other athletes and video cameras for several hours before the fight, Alamo gave no explanation for why he believed Diaz had used marijuana in the hours preceding the event. Diaz himself dismissed the assertion that marijuana was a Performance-enhancing drug, or that he was smoking it prior to the fight.^[8][9][10]

EliteXC[link]

Diaz made his debut for EliteXC in Hawaii on September 15, 2007 on Showtime. He won a hard fought split decision over his opponent Mike Aina.^[11] MMA Weekly reported that Nick Diaz signed a two year deal with EliteXC and in his next fight, fought KJ Noons for the vacant 160 pound title. Once the fight began, the two exchanged rather evenly on the feet until Noons dropped Diaz with a well timed right counterpunch. Diaz attempted several takedowns, all of which were stuffed by Noons, on one occasion with a swift right knee which opened up a notable gash on Diaz's face, eventually resulting in a loss via doctor stoppage due to multiple cuts on his forehead. A disappointed Diaz left the arena immediately and on his way out he flipped off the doctor from the arena entrance and shoved the camera out of his face.^[12] Interestingly, he stated in pre-fight interviews that the only way he was going to lose this fight was from a cut above his eye.^[13]

After losing the Noons fight via-doc stoppage due to a cut, Diaz had surgery and had the bone filed down on his eyebrows to prevent any bad cuts in future bouts. Diaz came into his next fight at EliteXC's "Return of the KING" event in Honolulu, Hawaii against Muhsin Corbbrey 9 pounds over the weight limit.^[14] Diaz earned a tough win over Corbbrey, following the main event an altercation between Nick and his brother Nate broke out with KJ Noons and his corner. EliteXC executives asked Diaz to come to the ring and make a statement about a possible title rematch with Noons. Noons, a Native of Hawaii, asked the crowd their opinion, resulting in an echo of boos for Diaz.^[15] After Nick spoke over the microphone to Noons, saying, "don't be scared homie,"^[16] Carl Noons, KJ's father, lunged at him prompting Nate Diaz to throw a water bottle at the elder Noons.^[17] The Diaz brothers were quickly escorted out of the cage by a group of security staff. During interviews the next day Nick claimed Carl was intoxicated and overreacting. Meanwhile Carl claimed his incident was prompted by the thrown bottle. Video replay of the event showed Nate throwing the bottle after Carl jumped at Nick. No one was injured as the Diaz brothers left the arena entrance "throwing the bird" to the fans and Noons' corner.^[18]

Nick went on to face well-traveled veteran Thomas "Wildman" Denny at the EliteXC Event "Unfinished Business" in Nick's hometown of Stockton, California. After a sluggish start to the fight, Diaz found his range and punished Denny during the latter half of the First Round.^[19] Diaz continued to keep the fight standing and maintained a high-paced tempo for the remainder of the fight, earning an impressive TKO victory over the veteran Denny 0:30 into Round Two.^[19] Diaz was rumoured to have a rematch against the current EliteXC Lightweight Champion KJ Noons, airing on CBS October 4, 2008. However, KJ Noons and his camp refused to accept the match. Mark Dion, KJ's manager was quoted as saying "As far as Nick Diaz, he's not the No. 1 contender out there.".^[20] Diaz was scheduled to face Eddie Alvarez for the EliteXC 160 pound title on November 8, 2008 before the company ceased operations.^[21]

Strikeforce and Dream[link]

Diaz was victorious in Dream 3, defeating Katsuya Inoue by corner stoppage (TKO) in the first round.^[22] With Strikeforce's acquisition of ProElite's assets, CEO Scott Coker had announced that Nick will face off against MMA legend Frank Shamrock at a catchweight of 179 lb, at their upcoming event Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz in Shamrock's hometown of San Jose on April 11 at the HP Pavilion.^[23] Nick was successful in the fight, defeating Shamrock via TKO, due to strikes in the second round. Throughout the fight, Diaz was dominant in all areas using effective positioning on the ground, once mounting Frank in the end of the first round and then finally finishing in the second round due to a body shot crumpling Frank to the mat and then following up with punches before referee John McCarthy called a halt to the bout. In the interview he stated "It's hard to hate the guy, he's been doing what I've been wanting to do and saying what I've wanted to say for a long time".

At Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields Diaz met Scott Smith at a catchweight of 180 pounds. Although Smith took Diaz down once in the first round, Diaz controlled the majority of the bout with his superior boxing, utilizing his reach, stalking jabs and repeatedly punishing Smith with hooks to the body, twice dropping him in the second and third round. Upon landing the body shot that dropped Smith in the third round, Smith assumed a turtle position and Diaz took his back until securing a rear naked choke to finish the bout at 1:41 of the final round.

It was announced that Diaz would be fighting Joe Riggs ^[24] at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg taking place on August 15, in which would have been a rematch of their first fight that took place at UFC 57: Couture vs Liddell 3, in which both fighters fought in the cage and then again at the local hospital later in the evening.^[25] The fight would have been for the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship but, Joe Riggs had to pull out of the bout due to an adverse reaction to a drug. Diaz was then scheduled to instead face Jay Hieron for the Welterweight Championship.^[26] This fight has since been canceled due to Diaz's failure to attain his license after not attending a pre-fight drug test.^[27] Jesse Taylor replaced Diaz and the title was no longer on the line, Hieron defeated Taylor by unanimous decision.

Diaz faced Strikeforce newcomer Marius Žaromskis to crown the first Strikeforce Welterweight Champion on January 30, 2010 at Strikeforce: Miami.^[28] Žaromskis came out aggressively and the two men exchanged on the feet until Diaz tied his opponent up in the clinch and landed numerous knees to Žaromskis' right leg. Diaz then scored a takedown and looked for a guillotine choke – quickly shrugged off by his opponent. The two men continued to exchange, with Diaz utilizing his unorthodox boxing skills, until rocked by a Žaromskis left hook and falling to his back. Žaromskis landed few effective shots while Diaz was turtled on the floor, allowing him to recover and stand back up. In the few remaining minutes, Diaz opened up with his boxing range, tagging Žaromskis cleanly several times with combos composed of jabs, hooks and seamless bodyshots; forcing him against the side of the cage where he landed a solid uppercut and continued to punish his opponent leading to the referee to stop the contest at 4:38 of the first round. Diaz was then crowned the inaugural Strikeforce Welterweight Champion.

Diaz defeated Hayato Sakurai by submission (armbar) in a non-title bout at Dream 14.^[29] Diaz defeated KJ Noons in a rematch of their 2007 bout for the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship. Diaz won via Unanimous Decision (48–47, 49–47, 49–46). Diaz defeated Evangelista Santos who had an 18–13^[30] MMA record going into the bout on January 29, 2011 at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg via armbar in the second round.^[31] Diaz defeated Paul Daley at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley via TKO (punches) at 4:57 of round 1, and became the first Strikeforce fighter to successfully defend the welterweight belt 3 times in a row.^[32]

Return to UFC[link]

UFC president Dana White stated that a matchup between Diaz and UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre was a possible consideration.^[33] Diaz and St.Pierre were rumored to be the next coaches for TUF 14 (The Ultimate Fighter) reality show, but the show debuted on September 21, 2011, with Michael Bisping and Jason Miller as coaches. UFC president Dana White confirmed via Twitter that Diaz would face GSP at UFC 137 at the Mandalay Bay Event Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 29, 2011. Nick Diaz vacated his Strikeforce Welterweight Championship title prior to his bout with Georges St-Pierre ^[34] Dana White made the decision to take Nick Diaz out of the fight and replace him with Carlos Condit, due to Diaz missing multiple flights for a press event to support the fight.^[35] It was announced that Diaz would fight B.J. Penn in the main event at his original fight card, UFC 137.^[36] Diaz won via unanimous decision. Diaz called out Georges St. Pierre in the post-fight interview, who was scheduled to fight Carlos Condit at the same event but had been forced out of the bout with a knee injury.

Following his successful return, Diaz was expected to face Georges St. Pierre for the UFC welterweight title at UFC 143 during Super Bowl weekend.^[37] However, due to a ACL injury sustained by St-Pierre, Diaz faced Carlos Condit in the main event, with the winner being awarded an Interim UFC Welterweight Championship.^[38] Condit defeated Diaz via a unanimous decision. After the fight, Diaz said that he would retire from MMA.^[39] After the event UFC President Dana White said that he believes Diaz will fight again.^[40] It was reported that an immediate rematch with Condit was to be scheduled,^[41] but was cancelled when Diaz tested positive for marijuana metabolites in a post-fight drug test.^[42] The Nevada State Athletic Commission temporarily suspended Diaz shortly after the positive test, pending a full disciplinary hearing.^[43]

It was announced at the hearing in May 2012 that Diaz was suspended for one year, retroactive to February 4, 2012, and fined 30 percent of his fight purse earned from the Condit bout. Diaz will be eligible to return to MMA competition in February 2013.^[44]

Diaz was set to take on Braulio Estima in a grappling match at the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo on May 12, 2012.^[45] However, Diaz no-showed the event. Hours following the event, Diaz was seen liking a YouTube video featuring Estima's reaction on Diaz's no-show, calling it "disrespectful." The day after the event Diaz alleged that Estima failed to make weight within the agreed upon timeframe prior to the fight and also alleged that the promoters of the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo failed to make good on their claims of donating proceeds from the fight to charity.^[46]

Fighting style[link]

Diaz is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Cesar Gracie whom he has been training with since he was a teenager. He is accomplished in both gi and no-gi jiu-jitsu. Some of the major titles he has won include the US Purple Belt Open in 2004 and a Pan American Brown Belt Medium Weight Division title in 2005.^[47] He also owns a victory over renowned grappler Jorge Patino in competition via kneebar. He is known for having a modified BJJ style that suits his MMA career very well. Diaz lists his favorite submission as the kimura.^[48] He is widely known for his impressive closed guard which he frequently uses in his fights. Diaz currently teaches jiu-jitsu at his and brother Nathan's school in Lodi, CA.

Diaz is also a professional boxer and fights in the Super Middleweight weight class. He made his professional debut in April 2005 against Alfonso Rocha at the Radisson Hotel in Sacramento, California.^[49] Diaz was victorious, winning by unanimous decision after four rounds. He has not fought since. Nick and Nate Diaz are now being trained by former WBA and WBC World Champion Luisito Espinosa and are training with the highly skilled Jason "Gumby" Robison. Nick has also recently been training with Olympic Boxing Gold Medalist Andre Ward.^[50]

Championships and accomplishments[link]

Mixed Martial Arts[link]

• Strikeforce
  • Strikeforce Welterweight Championship (One time; first)
  • Most consecutive Welterweight title defenses in Strikeforce history (Three)
  • Most successful Welterweight title defenses in Strikeforce history (Three)
  • 2010 Fight of the Year vs. K.J. Noons on October 9
  • 2010 Male Fighter of the Year

• World Extreme Cagefighting
  • WEC Welterweight Championship (One time; first)

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Fight of the Night (One time)

• International Fighting Championships
  • IFC U.S. Welterweight Championship (One time)
  • One successful title defense

• Inside Fights
  • Fight of the Year (2007) vs. Takanori Gomi on February 24
  • Fight of the Year (2010) vs. K.J. Noons on October 9
  • Fight of the Year (2011) vs. Paul Daley on April 9

Mixed martial arts record[link]

Boxing record[link]

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Date	Round	Location	Notes
xWin	1–0	Alfonso Rocha	UD	02005-04-29April 29, 2005	4	Radisson Hotel, Sacramento, California	Boxing Debut

See also[link]

• List of current mixed martial arts champions

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Professional MMA record for Nick Diaz from Sherdog
• Professional boxing record for Nick Diaz from BoxRec