Thanks to all the participants that attended the Nate Diaz seminar this past weekend at Hayabusa Training Centre Ltd. Keep an eye on the website for future Seminar announcements!

Saint City News: Local Sports

Local fighters get Ultimate lesson

 

Brody Mark

In a business where it pays to be mean, Nate Diaz was all too happy to show his techniques, lend some advice and even crack a smile when posing for pictures.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight was in St. Albert Saturday to host a two-hour seminar at Hayabusa Training Centre where he showed approximately 20 eager students some of the strategies he employs inside the octagon.

“It helps me to teach the moves,” said Diaz, a Stockton, Calif., native. “It helps me to go over this stuff because, personally, I need to work on this stuff, too.”

Diaz was originally set to host the class with his older brother, Nick, the Strikeforce welterweight champion. However, last-minute passport issues caused him to miss the trip, according to Diaz.

After seeing him fight live in Las Vegas, St. Albert’s Trent Schwartz said Diaz the fighter is considerably different from Diaz the person.

“It’s so crazy, because I see all these guys in Vegas and they come here and they’re such different guys,” said Schwartz. “They’re down to earth and teaching you techniques and not some bad ass guy. It’s really neat.”

Fellow student Justin Patey agreed with Schwartz, saying he wasn’t sure what to expect from Diaz, but still made the drive in from Fort McMurray to take part.

“For me, it was an experience I couldn’t pass on. … Any opportunity that I can get to train with such high-calibre guys, I just jump on it,” said Patey.

Students as young as 12-years-old showed up to learn from Diaz. He said seeing kids that young willing to take direction means good things for the future of mixed martial arts (MMA).

“They learn better than most adults,” he joked.

The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Season 5 winner spent the two-hour session showing the students everything from takedowns to working on the ground and working from their backs. A quick demonstration using Hayabusa Training Centre owner Luke Harris was all that was needed before the students got back to work perfecting what they had just learned.

Any break in the action saw the sweat-drenched fighters quickly grab a drink of water, then head to their bags to grab their respective cameras.

Group photos, one-on-one photos, photos of Diaz applying a chokehold and photos of Diaz simply looking mean were snapped up before the action picked up again.

As one of the sport’s more recognizable fighters, Diaz says there is a responsibility to help younger fighters learn so they can carry the industry in years to come.

“We have to make sure that if we’re doing it, we’re doing it right,” said Diaz, whose MMA record stands at 12-5. “Wherever I can help pass something on, I’d like to do it as long as they’re going to put it toward something positive.”

The trip north was short-lived for Diaz, who is currently training for his next fight, scheduled for UFC 118 against Marcus Davis.

He flew in on the Friday and took in a local MMA event — Aggression MMA IV — before flying back out right after Saturday’s seminar.

“It was good,” Diaz said of his short stay in the area. “Just came out here and had fun, saw some good fights, taught a good class full of good people. It was a good couple of days.”

Diaz graciously posed for more pictures at the end of the day and invited the students to come visit him if they ever found themselves in Stockton some day.

Until then, they will have to settle for watching him on TV and telling their friends about the time they spent a Saturday morning with him.

“I can look back and say ‘Hey man, this guy is a future champ and I trained with him,’” said Patey.