Contrary to its reputation for instant, sometimes guttural gratification, MMA has a way of keeping secrets.
Especially when a fighter bursts onto the scene in dominant fashion, it can take a while for the truth to emerge. For specific, recent examples of this phenomenon, please see the highly publicized cases of Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey.
Remember them? They both seemed pretty near unbeatable—until suddenly they weren’t. For Lesnar and Rousey, a clear and accurate picture of their strengths and weaknesses was slow to develop, but once it did, it rendered them suddenly, shockingly mortal.
For Conor McGregor, Saturday’s majority-decision win over Nate Diaz at UFC 202 was perhaps most important because it saved him from a similar fate.
As Irish MMA writer Peter Carroll pointed out on social media, this was one McGregor badly needed:
For the first time, MMA fans finally got a good look at what McGregor can do in the Octagon. Unlike his two predecessors, he came out of it looking worthy of his own hype.
“This was a hell of an important fight for me,” McGregor said during his post-fight press conference (warning: NSFW language). “Everyone—from the media to the fighters—wrote me off in this one. They tried to say if I lose this one, I’m done.”
Done because, let’s be honest, McGregor‘s ignominious loss to Diaz in their first meeting at UFC 196 raised serious concerns about his future—both as an elite fighter and a top draw for the organization.
McGregor‘s first three years in the UFC had gone so well that we didn’t know a lot about him as a fighter headed into the spring of 2016. Sure, his thunderous left hand was good enough to rocket him to 7-0 in the Octagon, but critics would argue his opponents in those bouts had been carefully curated to give him the best chance to succeed.
McGregor earned a featherweight title shot by defeating Chad Mendes on extremely short notice at UFC 189, and his 13-second knockout victory over Jose Aldo at UFC 194 was so short and sweet it managed to garner him the title, stand as his most dominant performance and seem kind of fluky all at the same time.
Meanwhile, there was McGregor‘s mouth, which rocketed him to fame while occasionally also putting him at odds with the UFC. It didn’t seem possible that he could be as good as he claimed to be, and even after winning the 145-pound title, it was difficult to get a bead on exactly what he might ultimately become.
Then came Diaz—a UFC lightweight who had always been good but never great. To see the Stockton, California, native weather McGregor‘s best punches, tire him out with trademark Diaz-style pressure boxing and swiftly choke him out all by late in the second round was disquieting to say the least.
It meant McGregor had a lot to prove in the pair’s grudge rematch.
For starters, McGregor had to properly acclimate himself to fighting at 170 pounds—though at least this time, he had the luxury of a full training camp to do so. He also had to adjust to Diaz‘s length, reach and high-volume boxing style.
In addition to that, McGregor had to prepare for an opponent who might be immune to his left-handed power punches and would push him for the duration of a 25-minute fight.
Perhaps most importantly of all, he had to turn in a performance worthy of his lofty status as one of the UFC’s biggest stars. Promotional oomph and clever matchmaking might be able to make you a draw in this business, but longevity requires actual, well-rounded skill.
Now, after 25 minutes of back-and-forth action against Diaz at UFC 202, we can report without hesitation that McGregor appears to be the genuine article.
This win required him to do things we’d never seen from him before in the UFC. For the first time, McGregor had to think beyond his straight left hand. He had to game-plan and be strategic, knowing when to attack and when to escape, when to turn on the jets and when to conserve his fuel.
As Bleacher Report’s Patrick Wyman put it this week:
Because of his streak of knockouts, McGregor had never really been forced to think more than a few exchanges ahead. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t capable of it, just that prior to facing Diaz, it hadn’t been necessary.
…
Against Diaz, McGregor would have to carefully plan for everything ahead of time and then readjust during the fight itself. He did both at UFC 202.
Suddenly present were an arsenal of wicked leg kicks, which he used to punish Diaz‘s base during their early exchanges. McGregor seemed less reckless, more judicious with his strikes. Still, he remained dangerous enough to drop Diaz with punches a couple of times during the opening rounds.
Such a calculated approach was flatly missing from the pair’s first fight. This time around, it allowed McGregor to build a lead from which Diaz never really recovered.
“The whole [feud with Diaz] brought out the best of me,” McGregor said at the press conference. “It forced me to look at myself, truly … We got it done tonight. It was not easy, it was a war. I’m happy it went that way. I got to show my heart in there.”
It wasn’t perfect, of course. McGregor still got tired. There were some moments in the third round when he seemed on the verge of wilting and coughing up a repeat of the first fight. But in the fourth round, McGregor marshaled his forces and came back strong, taking that stanza to eventually salt away the decision.
So, mission accomplished for now.
McGregor emerges from this win with his reputation intact and suddenly battle-tested enough that he deserves his role as the UFC’s biggest male star. Now we have a much clearer picture of him as a fighter, and that picture—overall—is a good one.
There will be plenty of discussion about what should be next for him, but this win maintains the thing that was most vital of all to McGregor moving forward: options.
His options no longer seem limited, either by this feud with Diaz or the glass ceiling it might have represented if McGregor didn’t have the skills to back up his many claims.
Now, there is good reason to be bullish about his future.
If he and his UFC bosses steer his career properly, it seems like he’s going to be here for a while.
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