{"id":179678,"date":"2015-12-16T14:38:18","date_gmt":"2015-12-16T22:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=179678"},"modified":"2022-02-04T17:23:43","modified_gmt":"2022-02-05T01:23:43","slug":"nate-diaz-committed-to-climbing-lightweight-rankings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/ufcnews\/nate-diaz-committed-to-climbing-lightweight-rankings\/","title":{"rendered":"Nate Diaz committed to climbing lightweight rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Nate Diaz hasn&#8217;t <a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mmanews\/replay-dos-anjos-batters-diaz-en-route-unanimous-decision\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">been inside the Octagon in over a year<\/a>, however this Saturday he will <a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mmanews\/nate-diaz-on-fox-17-must-watch-exclusive-video-gimmie-shelter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">make his return at UFC on FOX 17 against #6 ranked Michael Johnson.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>While Diaz hasn&#8217;t fought frequently since 2013, he is now committed to climbing the lightweight rankings and pursuing a title shot.<\/p>\n<p>He spoke to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ufc.com\/news\/Nate-Diaz-ready-to-re-establish-stature-in-lightweight-division\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UFC.com<\/a> to discuss his last fight, and why he feels he is in fact the best fighter in the world.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em> \u201cMy last fight was against Rafael dos Anjos and I lost on a decision.  I think I can beat that guy and I can\u2019t just sit back and watch these guys fighting in front of me. I think I\u2019m better than all of these guys, so I figured it was time to get the ball rolling if I\u2019m going to get the ball rolling again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe I\u2019m the best fighter in the world, but I like to fight guys who are going to fight me back, and that\u2019s what I like about Michael Johnson.  He hits hard and throws good punches. I\u2019ve been stagnant for the past three years and that\u2019s when he\u2019s made his move. It\u2019s time for me to get working and I\u2019m coming to fight.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Johnson recently had a 4-fight winning streak snapped at the hands of Beneil Dariush, who defeated Johnson via split decision back in August.<\/p>\n<p>Who do you have winning this pivotal lightweight showdown? Sound off below PENN Nation!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nate Diaz hasn&#8217;t been inside the Octagon in over a year, however this Saturday he will make his return at UFC on FOX 17 against #6 ranked Michael Johnson. While Diaz hasn&#8217;t fought frequently since 2013, he is now committed to climbing the lightweight rankings and pursuing a title shot. He spoke to UFC.com to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":133614,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[2681],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.7 (Yoast SEO v19.14) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Nate Diaz committed to climbing lightweight rankings | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/ufcnews\/nate-diaz-committed-to-climbing-lightweight-rankings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nate Diaz committed to climbing lightweight rankings | BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nate Diaz hasn&#8217;t been inside the Octagon in over a year, however this Saturday he will make his return at UFC on FOX 17 against #6 ranked Michael Johnson. While Diaz hasn&#8217;t fought frequently since 2013, he is now committed to climbing the lightweight rankings and pursuing a title shot. He spoke to UFC.com to [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/ufcnews\/nate-diaz-committed-to-climbing-lightweight-rankings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"| BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-12-16T22:38:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-05T01:23:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Nate-Diaz.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"730\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"380\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/ufcnews\/nate-diaz-committed-to-climbing-lightweight-rankings\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/ufcnews\/nate-diaz-committed-to-climbing-lightweight-rankings\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"bjpenndotcom\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/7c8b8d1602cb47040b7a5cd250d5b90a\"},\"headline\":\"Nate Diaz committed to climbing lightweight rankings\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-16T22:38:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-05T01:23:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/ufcnews\/nate-diaz-committed-to-climbing-lightweight-rankings\/\"},\"wordCount\":254,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"UFC NEWS\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2015\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/ufcnews\/nate-diaz-committed-to-climbing-lightweight-rankings\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/ufcnews\/nate-diaz-committed-to-climbing-lightweight-rankings\/\",\"name\":\"Nate Diaz committed to climbing lightweight rankings | BJPenn.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-16T22:38:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-05T01:23:43+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/ufcnews\/nate-diaz-committed-to-climbing-lightweight-rankings\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/ufcnews\/nate-diaz-committed-to-climbing-lightweight-rankings\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/ufcnews\/nate-diaz-committed-to-climbing-lightweight-rankings\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UFC NEWS\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/ufcnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Nate Diaz committed to climbing lightweight rankings\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\",\"name\":\"| BJPenn.com\",\"description\":\"MMA &amp; 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