Nevada

Nevada (Spanish for "snow covered") is a state in the Western, Mountain West, and Southwestern regions of the United States of America. Nevada is the 7th most extensive, the 35th most populous, and the 9th least densely populated of the 50 United States. Nearly three-quarters of Nevada's people live in Clark County, which contains the Las Vegas–Paradise metropolitan area where three of the state's four largest incorporated cities are located. Nevada's capital is Carson City. Nevada is officially known as the "Silver State" due to the importance of silver to its history and economy. It is also known as the "Battle Born State", because it achieved statehood during the Civil War (the words "Battle Born" also appear on the state flag); as the "Sagebrush State", for the native plant of the same name; and as "Sage hen State". Nevada borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast and Utah to the east.

Nevada is largely desert and semiarid, much of it located within the Great Basin. Areas south of the Great Basin are located within the Mojave Desert, while Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada lie on the western edge. About 86% of the state's land is managed by various jurisdictions of the U.S. federal government, both civilian and military.

Nevada State

The Nevada State has been the name of two schools in Nevada. First there was Nevada State University from 1881–1905, which is currently known as the University of Nevada. The other is Nevada State College, which has been known as such since its formation in 2002.

Nevada Athletic Commission

The Nevada Athletic Commission (popularly known as the Nevada State Athletic Commission or NSAC) regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of Nevada, including licensure and supervision of promoters, boxers, kickboxers, mixed martial arts fighters, seconds, ring officials, managers, and matchmakers. The commission is the final authority on licensing matters, having the inability to approve, deny, revoke, or suspend all licenses for unarmed combat.

Leadership

The commission, which is an agency of the Nevada Department of Business & Industry, is made up of five part-time members, each of whom is appointed by the Governor for a three year term. The chairman is selected annually by the commission members. The current chairman is Francisco Aguilar. The other members are Skip Avansino, Bill Brady, Pat Lundvall, and Anthony Marnell III.

The commission appoints an executive director to conduct the day-to-day operations of the commission. The executive director does not have a vote on actions taken by the commission. The executive director is Bob Bennett. In addition to the executive director, the commission has a staff of four full-time employees. The office of the Attorney General serves as legal counsel to the commission.

Nick Diaz

Nickolas Robert "Nick" Diaz (born August 2, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist who is currently signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A two-time world champion, Diaz has been a professional competitor since 2001. In addition to the UFC, he has competed for PRIDE, Strikeforce, EliteXC, the WEC, DREAM, and Shooto. He is a former Strikeforce Welterweight Champion and a former WEC Welterweight Champion.

Background

Diaz was born and raised in Stockton, California, and is of Mexican-American heritage. He is the older brother of UFC fighter Nate Diaz, and attended Tokay High School in Lodi, California, for a year before dropping out. While a freshman, he was a member of the swim team. Diaz began training in karate and aikido from a young age and also participated in wrestling tournaments during his teenage years. He started training in Sambo at the age of 16 under Bulgarian National Sambo Champion Valeri Ignatov and still trains with Ignatov. He was promoted to black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu by Cesar Gracie on May 8, 2007. Diaz currently teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu at his and brother Nathan's school in Lodi, California, and trains with Nico Lipari.

Anderson Silva

Anderson da Silva (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɐ̃deʁsõ ˈsiwvɐ]; born April 14, 1975) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC Middleweight Champion. Silva holds the longest title defense streak in UFC history, which ended in 2013 with 16 consecutive wins and 10 title defenses. He has 12 post-fight bonus awards. UFC president Dana White and several mixed-martial-arts publications have called Silva among the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. As of May 2015, he is #4 contender in the official UFC middleweight rankings, and #9 pound-for-pound.

Background

Anderson Silva was born April 14, 1975, a middle child of four. The son of a poverty-stricken family, Silva spent the majority of his childhood with his aunt and uncle, an officer with the Curitiba police force.

Silva first began training jiu-jitsu with neighborhood kids who could afford lessons. He explained his introduction to martial arts in an interview with FIGHT! Magazine: “When I started out, Jiu-Jitsu was really an elite thing in Brazil, and there was some prejudice towards poorer kids, so I had to learn things on my own... Some of my neighbors started doing Jiu-Jitsu, so I started watching it, and then started rolling with them. It wasn’t organized training, but it was better than nothing.” By the age of thirteen his family was able to set aside enough money to start him in Tae Kwon Do lessons, from which he moved on to Capoeira, before finally settling on Muay Thai at the age of sixteen.