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http://mmajunkie.com/news/17600/nate-di ... fc-111.mma


Don't know about this one.

Weird.

I'd already heard him deny this in an interview, but now this report comes out with a potential opponent named.

Seems to be the opposite of how a jump in weight classes usually goes though. He can't hang at LW, so he's going to move up to WW...for what advantage, exactly?

For what it's worth, I think he can hang just fine at LW, he just needs to improve some parts of his game, especially his wrestling (which he may have before the Maynard fight, but we didn't see it). He also might need to change his standup strategy a bit though, or just get better at implementing it, because it's not impressing the judges, and he's not likely to finish UFC level fighters with it in 3 round fights.

A WW move would be fine, if he took a year off bulked up with some serious muscle to 180, then cut. He's successful enough in LW because of his long frame, and ability to frustrate his opponents enough with his stand-up to get it to the ground for a submission. But he has little power in his strikes.

Welterweights aren't going to fall into the same trap. These guys have more power and will take him out of his game.

From what I understand CPT, he's not doing it for an advantage at all, he said in his post fight with Gray Maynard that part of the reason for his "sloppyness" so to speak was due to the weight cut and what comes with it, he lacked the right energy and what not.

I think he feels that at 170 there won't be as much pressure on his body, and the offset of not being as "heavy" entering the cage wont be nearly as bad as what the cut was doing to him.

With that I've seen a few more articles about what weight cutting actually does to you medically, which is what made it stick in my mind all that more.

Its interesting, and I think its not neccasarily a bad move for MMA as a whole. I am really getting sick of seeing the Johnsons and Daleys of this world missing weight (not that Diaz did ..), maybe they take a influence from this.

I don't see Nate being better at WW with all this said, I always thought he looked kind of lean, even for a LW, and can't see him having the strength/power to deal with some of the better WW's.

Probably doesn't deserve its own thread, but on a related note: Diego Sanchez is going back to welterweight as well, according to his twitter.

Good move for him IMO.

Yeah, I saw that about Diego.

It was the first I'd heard of it though, and he was just saying he would like to welcome Nate to the WW division. Makes sense, because he'd whoop Nate.

Other than that, I don't really like it for him. I'd like to see how he does against some of the other LWs (Maynard, Edgar, Sherk, Griffin) first. And of course, the only really big money fight he has is against Kenny Florian, because he probably won't make it to a WW title shot if he never did before.

How does not having success at LW against 1 guy primarily make it a good move for either of these guys to move up?

Nate still has a lot of room to grow and improve and with more seasoning has the potential to get a Title shot and who knows from there.

Diego got manhandled by Penn, but was very entertaining in his other fights, how does moving back up help him? :S

I'm curious to see Sanchez at welterweight once again. He had two decision losses (one split) to Koscheck and Fitch, its not like he wasn't a very good welterweight.

I read an article recently discussing how Sanchez kind of nullified all of his advantages by dropping weight. That he was so successful at welterweight due to his frantic pace, and that even though he is able to out muscle other lightweights, that isn't really his game. Plus I think the weight drop takes a lot out of him.

Diego might be the #2/#3 LW in the world! But barely in the top 10 at WW. But if the cut is killing him,...

Seeing Diego and Nate move up might be a good move for there body. Those two are skinny ass dudes when the are at lightweight, moving up should be their ideal weight class.

Diego just keeps jumping divisions when he finds out he isn't good enough to be great there. 155 or 170, either way he is not elite. I think he should have stayed at 155. There are more interesting fights for him there.