“It was just people running away with their own inferences and interpretations of what may have happened, it’s all bullshit.”
When reigning UFC lightweight kingpin Rafael dos Anjos was felled by injury and unable to defend his title at UFC 196, his opponent, newly-crowned 145-pound champion Conor McGregor, asked the promotion to bring Nate Diaz into the main event.
As a welterweight.
Why “Notorious” opted to compete two divisions above the weight class he currently rules is unknown, but the prevailing wisdom suggests there was no reason to cut weight without a title on the line. But not everyone was on board with that theory and think other substances factors were at play.
And now we’re back for the rematch, which will also be held at 170 pounds (even with a full camp), simply because McGregor wants to prove he can, in fact, defeat Diaz as a welterweight. But had the organization pushed a little harder for a 155-pound showdown, “Notorious” would have played ball.
Manager Audie Attar talks to MMA Fighting:
“At the eleventh hour, before we signed the bout agreement, [McGregor] said, ‘Look, I’m hearing everybody. If everybody wants to do 155, fine. Let’s do 155. The contract was already written at 170. And so, in Conor’s defense, he really didn’t give two shits. He really wanted it at 170, because he wanted to prove he could beat him there. Conor is his own CEO, but intelligently he listens to the people around him and then makes his own final decision. He was trying to accommodate and listen to everybody and be a team player to make this happen. For him, that loss in itself, because of how he was performing until it went the other way is yet again fueled by his own self-belief system, confidence and desire to want to continue to push the envelope with his athletic ability and his skills, no matter who is in front of him. It happens to be the guy who beat him. He wants to put the same canvas up and paint a different picture for the audience to watch. And that’s what it’s all about, really.”
Their bout was recently finalized for 170 pounds.
In fact, “Diaz vs. McGregor 2” will headline the promotion’s upcoming UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) event inside MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sat., July 9, 2016. An impressive feat, when you consider the line up also boasts two title fights on the main card.
See the latest and greatest UFC 200 fight card and rumors right here.