Nick Maximov has thrown praise towards his trainer partners’ direction.
The middleweight prospect is coming off back-to-back victories inside the UFC Octagon. He’s received lots of attention thanks to his association with the famed Diaz brothers, as he’s trained with Nick and Nate for years.
Maximov is now leading the charge for the “Nick Diaz Army” and is coming off a win over Punahele Soriano at UFC Vegas 47. Following the victory, he went on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani.
Rather than discuss the victory, the prospect spent most of the interview praising his mentors. He revealed that he believes that the Diaz brothers are the two greatest fighters of all time.
"I think Nick and Nate [Diaz] are arguably the greatest martial artists to ever grace the octagon." — @nickmax15 to @arielhelwani on #TheMMAHour
▶️ https://t.co/rqN6fdnabl pic.twitter.com/OknFZUQwmp
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) February 7, 2022
“These guys built a recipe, I’m going to go follow it. I think Nick and Nate are arguably the greatest martial artists to ever grace the octagon. Y’know, Nick won every title if you really think about it. He won Strikeforce, he beat Takanori Gomi when was the man, EliteXC. I think Nick is the man. If they tell me to do something, I’m going to do it.”
While Maximov is biased, there are not too many fans that will argue against the Diaz brothers’ pedigree. Nick was a former Strikeforce welterweight champion, as well as an EliteXC and WEC titleholder. While he never held UFC gold, he challenged for it on two different occasions.
Nate never reached the championship mountain that Nick did. However, he’s still one of the most beloved fighters ever. The younger Diaz won The Ultimate Fighter season 5 lightweight tournament and challenged for the 155lb title in 2012. He was also a part of two of the biggest fighters ever in his 2016 rivalry against Conor McGregor.
Both Diaz brothers are approaching their 40s, and their best days are likely behind them. However, with fighters such as Nick Maximov leading the charge, the Diaz name will live on into the future.