Nick Diaz: Football players do better in MMA than ‘one-dimensional’ wrestlers

It has been a common trend for a number of football players to transition into mixed martial arts competition. 1982 Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker actually picked up two knockout victories fighting under Strikeforce in 2010 and 2011, Brendan Schaub played at the University of Colorado prior to his UFC career, and most recently, former NFL player Greg Hardy decided to begin his professional MMA career through Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series on June 12^th.

While many could question these decisions of these aforementioned athletes, Nick Diaz is actually fine with the idea. He even believes professional football players actually do better in their transition, compared to collegiate wrestlers who make the same move.

“You know what, football players, they actually do best in MMA,” Diaz told TMZ Sports. “A lot of times, you get a lot of wrestlers, and they get into the whole thing, and they’re very one-dimensional. They develop a lot of bad habits.”

Historically, many wrestlers who turn into mixed martial arts fighters have found great success, from old-school superstars like Randy Couture and Josh Barnett to current UFC champions such as Tyron Woodley and Daniel Cormier.

As for the elder Diaz brother, he is officially eligible to fight again, after his 12-month suspension for failing to post his whereabouts to USADA had lapsed last April 19^th. According to Jake Shields, Nick will “fight again soon” since he has “been training a decent amount” as of late.