(Incredibly gangster UFC 196 fan made trailer via ATE Channel)
When it was announced that Rafael Dos Anjos had gone down with a foot injury just 11 days prior to his lightweight title fight with Conor McGregor, the list of suitable replacement opponents for the Notorious one was quickly narrowed down to two guys: Donald Cerrone or Nate Diaz. Of course, Diaz being the perpetual cog in the UFC’s wheel, it seemed as if “Cowboy” would eventually be granted the matchup by virtue of pure convenience.
But wouldn’t you know it, it seems that Diaz had a slight change of heart, and has now agreed to face McGregor at UFC 196 in a five round main event.
If you’ll excuse us for a moment….
The fight, which was first reported by Fox Sports and confirmed by Ariel Helwani shortly thereafter, will be a non-title fight contested at 170 pounds, marking the featherweight champion’s first trip up to the division. Diaz, meanwhile, hasn’t competed at welterweight since stringing together two stoppage victories over Rory Markham and Marcus Davis alongside a pair of decision losses to Dong Hyun Kim and Rory MacDonald between 2010 and 2011.
This…is an incredible, insane fight to put it simply, as well as the best possible scenario fans could have hoped for following the removal of Dos Anjos from the card. In McGregor vs. Diaz, you have two fighters who are, as Mike Goldberg would put it, virtually identical in a lot of ways. Both guys are tried-and-true finishers who compete at an absolutely insane pace and bring a diverse, punishing arsenal of strikes to the cage. It may not be the fight we were expecting, and it may be happening on two weeks notice, but McGregor vs. Diaz has “Fight of the Year” implications written all over it.
Not to mention, uhhh, this:
The amount of shit-talking that will take place during the fight alone is worth the price of the pay-per-view. Speaking of which, the UFC has scheduled a press conference for the two to face off for the first time, which will be broadcast at 4 p.m. EST today on UFC.com.
Everyone get your tickets; the circus is in town.
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