mmafighting.com/2012/5/4/2998733/a-tale-of-two-diaz-brothers
I’d spent all Saturday in their Lodi gym, though this time they were both there, for several hours. When they finally wrapped up a marathon training session I got to sit with Nate in the locker room and show him an old photo of him, his brother, and -- according to Nate -- their sister, which had been floating around the internet for the last few years.
Nate instantly recognized the photo when I brought it out, but it seemed as if he hadn’t looked at it in years. He certainly didn’t seem aware that it was on the internet, or that it had been passed around so much by fans who had become enthralled with the legend of the Diaz brothers and their life in the 209.
"We were like third grade or second grade here. It’s crazy," he said, his eyes misting over. "Man we grew up in poverty, in the ghetto, just a really s----y environment. Like right here, we lived in a hotel. Us and my mom, just living in a hotel."
Back then, he explained, his big brother was his guide to the whole world, just like he would later become his guide to the world of MMA. Their mother, he said, tried to keep them out of trouble and focused on the positive things in their lives.
"We were pissed off kids, but she’d say, ‘No, people are good,’" Diaz said. "But growing up, Nick was older, he knew everything was bad. He knew other people weren’t like this, they had good stuff and nice houses. We’d be sitting in the motel waiting for my mom to get off work. My sister and I didn’t know any better. As long as cartoons were on, we were fine. But Nick, he knew. People would always mess with Nick. He’s always been like that."
