Reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight champion Conor McGregor pounded out Chad Mendes to win the interim 145-pound title at UFC 189, then unified the belts with a knockout win over Jose Aldo at UFC 194 later that year.
Not too shabby.
But not everyone under the ZUFFA banner is ready to start patting his Irish back. That includes welterweight nemesis Nate Diaz, who wants the promotion to level the playing field when it comes to pre-fight promotion, as opposed to lining up opponents like some sort of “Notorious” shooting gallery.
Diaz vents to MMA Hour:
“Can I get built up a little better? Conor McGregor is an artificial, they pushed him and he wasn’t whooping all types of asses and shit. They put me in, I’ve been in fight after fight, I didn’t do no media, I didn’t do no shit … now he’s where he’s at because the UFC kicked his ass and put him in gear and blew him up. How come he was such a big deal when he beat Dennis Siver. Who the fuck is Dennis Siver? Is that guy even ranked? I’m like, ‘get the fuck out of here.’ My following is strictly from ass whooping and talking some shit, and this motherfucker is like on top of the world because the UFC wanted him to?”
That’s what the “C” stands for.
Diaz submitted McGregor at UFC 196 last March, but had his 170-pound rematch torpedoed when “Mystic Mac” failed to come to terms on how to properly promote his fight. UFC was able to convince him to make his Octagon return but the jury is still out when it comes to the uncrowned king of Stockton.
That’s probably why we’re still talking about this.