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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The last time Takanori Gomi faced someone with the last name Diaz, he found himself on the wrong end of the rarely seen gogoplata submission against Nick Diaz. Now, Gomi will take on Diaz's brother Nate in his next UFC appearance at UFC 135.
UFC officials announced the bout Tuesday morning for the September 24 card in September, coming to Denver's Pepsi Center.
Gomi's loss to the elder Diaz brother was, of course, overturned to a no contest when Diaz tested positive for marijuana after the fight, but the fight remains one of the most exciting lightweight fights of the last several years. Since then, Gomi has gone 5-4, with a 1-2 mark in the UFC.
The younger Diaz is dropping back to lightweight after his second straight loss at welterweight. The Ultimate Fighter season five winner has gone 8-5 over 13 appearances in the UFC, but those five losses have all come in his last eight fights after winning five straight to kick off his UFC career. He moved to the welterweight division after losing three of four fights in 2009 and 2010, and put two wins together in impressive fashion. But decision losses to Dong Hyun Kim and Rory MacDonald have sent him back down to 155 lbs.
UFC 135 is headlined by a Light Heavyweight Championship bout between Jon Jones and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.
Penick's Analysis: Now this is a hell of a fight. With the losses each fighter has had recently this is likely to be a preliminary card fight, but it will probably make the Spike TV prelims for this event. It's not possible for it to be the same as Gomi's bout with Nick, but it could still be a fantastic lightweight fight. Both need to rebound after their recent losses, and both will have a lot on the line, so it should be a great fight for the Denver crowd.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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