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Nate Diaz won Season 5 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” | Photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

They know one another well.

Gray Maynard will meet “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 5 winner Nate Diaz at “The Ultimate Fighter 18” Finale on Nov. 30 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The two lightweights, both of whom have fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight crown, met previously at UFC Fight Night 20 in January 2010, as Maynard walked away with a split decision at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va. Perhaps forgotten is their exhibition battle in “The Ultimate Fighter 5” semifinals, during which Diaz submitted “The Bully” with a second-round guillotine choke.

Now, they collide again. Maynard, who has lost two of his past three bouts, last appeared at UFC 160 in May, when he succumbed to first-round punches from Canadian T.J. Grant. Diaz, meanwhile, will enter the cage on a two-fight losing streak. The 28-year-old Cesar Gracie protégé has not competed since his technical knockout loss to Josh Thomson at UFC on Fox 7 in April. Diaz, who was felled by a head kick and follow-up blows, had never before been finished by strikes.

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