Conor McGregor has gotten a vote of confidence from rival Nate Diaz leading into Saturday’s fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
In an appearance on the Against All Odds with Cousin Sal podcast (h/t TheMacLife.com) about Saturday’s epic showdown, Diaz said he thinks McGregor has what it takes to defeat Mayweather:
““I think he has a great chance. I’ve fought the top pros in the fight game, the best fighters in the world, and done better than a lot of them. … I fought Conor for 25 minutes. I believe he’s definitely going to have a chance.
“Fighting and beating the best boxer pound for pound in the world right now? That’s another story but a fight’s a fight and we’re going to have to watch and see what happens.”
Few fighters can attest to McGregor’s abilities like Diaz. They split two head-to-head meetings in UFC, with Diaz winning the first match via second-round submission at UFC 196 in March 2016.
McGregor was originally supposed to challenge Rafael dos Anjos for the UFC lightweight title, but a broken foot forced dos Anjos to withdraw. Diaz accepted the fight on short notice, though it was changed to a welterweight match at 170 pounds after McGregor originally prepared for a fight at 155 pounds.
McGregor won the rematch via majority decision at UFC 202 in August 2016.
Even though this is McGregor’s first professional boxing match, odds are certainly swinging toward him pulling off the upset. Mayweather has gone from a -2250 favorite (bet $100 to win $4.44) to -450, per OddsShark.
McGregor is one of the most dominant UFC fighters in the world. He owns a 21-3 career record in mixed martial arts, with 18 of his victories coming via knockout or TKO.
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