Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz II | UFC Betting Sites

Conor McGregor: I Have MMA, Boxing & Wrestling All Wrapped Up

Although Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz’s first matchup at March’s UFC 196 nearly broke the UFC’s all-time pay-per-view (PPV) record, it seems as if the anticipation for their rematch in the main event of this weekend’s (Sat., August 20, 2016) UFC 202 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, just isn’t quite as fervent. That could

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That could be because Diaz so thoroughly throttled McGregor in the first fight, or it could be because the card comes on the heels at a seemingly never-ending stretch of UFC cards. But true to form, McGregor isn’t giving an inkling of thought to the theory that his star power has diminished since his fateful loss to Diaz, and perhaps it hasn’t

The Irish superstar met with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour this week to discuss how things have changed a bit since his first UFC loss. This time around, he believes that the crowd may be more hostile towards him than it has been in recent bouts:

“Usually it’s been home for me in this place, with traveling fans. I’m estimating I’m going into a war zone here. That’s what I’m estimating, that’s what I’ve been preparing for, that’s what I’m looking forward to.”

McGregor discussed a desire to fight in front of his homeland fans in Ireland, something that has been met with surprisingly backlash from the entrenched and outdated powers that be on the Emerald Isle. ‘The Notorious’ believes his opportunity to fight in Ireland will arise again, so for now, he’s simply thankful for the massive support they have given and will give this weekend:

“So I know my countrymen will be supporting me wherever they are, and I know there will be many here in town, and I know there will be even more back home in Ireland and all over the world supporting me. So, I am content with that for now.”

As for UFC 202 itself, McGregor was quick to refute reports that tickets sales had been a bit lackluster for the event by stating his belief that records will be broken once again. After a highly-publicized online feud with a large portion of the WWE roster that followed his ridiculous ‘feud’ with boxing champ Floyd Mayweather Jr. earlier this year, McGregor suggested he rules all facets of combat sports:

“The ticket sales have been great for it, for a such a big arena at this time of year, the end of summer with everything going on,” McGregor said. “I’m very happy with it. We’re talking record breaking again. You know that. You know the pay-per-view buys will be smashed. I’ve dominated the headlines it seems. I have every game wrapped up. I have the boxing game, I have the wrestling game. I have this game wrapped up for years now. What else can I do?

“This will break all records and I’m very happy with it.”

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Eddie Alvarez Calls Out Diaz vs. McGregor II Winner

Add another UFC champion to the growing list of fighters who want the biggest name ‘money’ fight they can get in the Octagon. Top lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov teased a big announcement last week, and many were quick to guess that could only mean a bout with newly crowned champion Eddie Alvarez, who won the

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Add another UFC champion to the growing list of fighters who want the biggest name ‘money’ fight they can get in the Octagon.

Top lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov teased a big announcement last week, and many were quick to guess that could only mean a bout with newly crowned champion Eddie Alvarez, who won the belt with a shocking first-round KO of Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night 90 in early July.

But ‘The Underground King’ isn’t singing the same tune. He has his focus on a whole different pair of opponents, and during a recent conversation with TMZ (via FOX Sports), Alvarez revealed he not surprisingly wants to face the winner of August 20’s pivotal welterweight bout between Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor:

“I’ve got my eye on Nate Diaz-Conor. I would love to the fight the winner of that whole crew. I keep getting asked by all the media — you fight all the best guys in the world and at the end of the day the media asks ‘what about Conor McGregor?’ so I’m sick of being asked about his name. Him or Nate. I have some history with Nate, too. Either one of them.”

It’s a strong argument from Alvarez, as no matter which top-ranked lightweight he sent packing – and there are several – the media would continually ask about him fighting McGregor until he did. And it could also be argued that Nurmagomedov or Tony Ferguson would be far tougher challenges for a smaller payday compared to Irish featherweight champ McGregor.

Alvarez isn’t exactly a name draw himself, but like UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley, he knows where the biggest payday – and also perhaps the easiest title defense – lies. In his eyes, he brings the other key piece of the pie, and that’s the belt:

“I’m sure either one of them want the lightweight title,” Alvarez said. “They ain’t going to get it, but they can challenge for it.”

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Former UFC Champ: Conor’s Going To Get His A** Beat By Nate Again

With the next UFC event in the promotion’s jam-packed summer promising to be the most awaited when Nate Diaz meets Conor McGregor in the headliner of August 20’s UFC 202 pay-per-view (PPV) from Las Vegas, fans and fighters alike are weighing in on the rematch. Former UFC welterweight champion Pat Miletich is no different, and

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Former UFC welterweight champion Pat Miletich is no different, and the MMA pioneer met up with Submission Radio to offer a polarizing prediction for the massive fight. Like many, Miletich simply believes that McGregor won’t be able to handle Diaz’ size advantage, just as he wasn’t able to in their first meeting at March’s UFC 196, and even if he did, the follow-up challenges at welterweight wouldn’t be so kind:

“He’s going to get his ass beat by Nate again. And even if he were to get lucky and beat Nate, he fights guys that cut down from, you know, some of the guys at 170 are cutting down from 210-215 pounds. I mean, you’re talking skull fractures from punches from guys like that. I mean the 170-pounders who walk around at 200, 200-plus, could punch a heavyweight and break his jaw and knock him out. So these are explosive, very strong guys, who if Conor McGregor even remotely attempts to take them down, he’s going to get shut down. And if he gets hit with a three-punch combo, (he) is going to the hospital.”

As for the rest of the (true) welterweight division, which has arguably been the hottest topic in all of MMA since Tyron Woodley’s first-round knockout of Robbie Lawler at July 30’s UFC 201, Miletich believes that Stephen Thompson deserves the shot, but understands why Woodley would eschew that in favor of bigger moeny fights with Georges St. Pierre and Nick Diaz, as “The Chosen One” has a better shot at beating his “Chosen” opponents:

“Well I’m gonna give it to Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. (But) If I’m Tyron Woodley, I wanna fight Georges St. Pierre and make big money, right? Because I think that Tyron has a good shot against him, given that George had been out for several years. Nick Diaz cannot stop Tyron’s takedowns, so Tyron can control him.”

In Miletich’s opinion, Thompson would give Woodley big problems like he’s done to the rest of the entire welterweight division during his recent seven-fight win streak that has him firmly supplanted as the top contender – albeit one without a title shot:

“But Wonderboy, I’ll tell you what, Wonderboy is going to give him fits. That is a tough fight. And if Tyron is fighting guys like that and a couple of the other guys in the division that he’s going to have trouble with striking-wise who can wrestle, he may run into some problems. And like I say, match-ups really make fights. And there’s certain guys that Tyron matches up with very well and certain guys he does not match up with.”

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Tyron Woodley Calls Out Nick Diaz For ‘Money Fight’ At UFC 202

Continuing the jaw-dropping streak of UFC champions losing their belt by brutal stoppage, new welterweight champion Tyron Woodley put a stamp on his title victory when he knocked out Robbie Lawler with one massive punch in the main event of last night’s (Sat., July 30, 2016) UFC 201 from the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. […]

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After the bout, Woodley appeared on the post-fight show on FOX Sports 1, where top-ranked welterweight contender Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson was auspiciously a co-host for the evening. With two straight wins over Rory MacDonald and Johny Hendricks, it’s largely perceived that “Wonderboy” would receive the next shot, something he predictably called out for while interviewing Woodley:

“That was a first round finish, and I know you’re not injured. What are the chances we get it on in November my friend?”

But while “Wonderboy” wants to fight Woodley at the UFC’s New York debut event of UFC 205 in November, the new champ has other plans. He’s said he’s looking for a big money fight with a certain returning fan favorite instead:

Woodley took a jab at Thompson by citing his preference to fight Lawler rather than him, and said he would rather get a more lucrative bout with longtime veteran Nick Diaz, who returns from suspension next month, at August’s UFC 202:

“Well this is what I think, I think that you say you wanted to fight Robbie Lawler, and you’ll get an opportunity to fight Robbie Lawler, because who I wanna fight now is, I think now Nick Diaz comes off of suspension in two days, he’s a money fight. I’ve been in this game, I’m an O.G., I wanna make the big dough, so if he wants to fight August with his brother Nate Diaz, I think me and him can show down at that event. I’m uninjured, August, I’m ready to go, 202, let’s make the money. I think he’s deserved it, I think he’s put enough butts in the seats, he deserves to make that payday, so let’s go get it.”

Thompson wouldn’t stop pressing the issue, however, issuing a bit of a half-hearted congratulations to Woodley before proclaiming he could beat both Woodley and Diaz:

“I know I got your number. I know you count on Nick Diaz; I know I can beat both of you guys. I’m just saying man, come on, you gotta give it to me!”

Woodley had the perfect response for that, stating that “Wonderboy “ will have his chance after he gets his big payday and Thompson fights some lower-ranked ‘young buck’ contenders:

“You’ll get your chance after I go make this money. You and the rest of the ‘young bucks’ can scrap each other up; Gastelum and Magny, I’m gonna go get that money.”

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John Kavanagh Has A Strange Prediction For Diaz vs. McGregor II

The fallout of July 9’s UFC 200 seems to be just now settling, and the UFC already has another pay-per-view (PPV) card coming up this weekend with July 30’s UFC 201 from Atlanta, but much of the larger focus of the MMA world is not surprisingly fixated on the anticipated welterweight rematch between Nate Diaz and

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The bout, which was now-infamously originally scheduled for the main event of UFC 200 before the promotion pulled ‘The Notorious’ out of the spot when he refused to attend press obligations while training in Iceland, is a seeming grudge match spawning from McGregor’s intense desire to avenge his second-round submission loss to enigmatic late replacement Diaz at UFC 196 in March.

That’s keeping arguably the biggest star in the UFC fighting up two weight classes, something that appeared to be his undoing in his first fight with Diaz, where he gassed badly after winging a high volume of heavy power shots at the larger iron-chinned fighter.

Many may expect the same in the rematch, but McGregor’s longtime head coach John Kavanagh said the exact opposite would be true in a recent Q&A on Periscope, acknowledging that his star fighter simply threw “too many power shots” and “got tired.”

McGregor is well known for winning fights in emphatic fashion by doing just that against every opponent he’d faced in the UFC at 145 pounds, yet when it didn’t, he was left with nothing in the tank after getting wobbled by a big straight left hand before succumbing to a brutal choke. Kavanagh, who noted McGregor was taking this bout “a hundred times” more serious, believes the Irish standout will take Diaz to deep waters and finish him in “four” this time around.

It’s yet another bold prediction from the McGregor camp, who were on record as saying they were going to challenge surging welterweight champion Robbie Lawler after they ran through Diaz when lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos was forced out of his title fight with ‘Notorious.’

But that talk has cooled significantly after Diaz was able to further expose his perhaps suspect ground game, so it’s on McGregor’s shoulders to win the rematch and his respect back. He’s only gone the distance in one UFC bout, a unanimous decision nod over a green Max Holloway at August 2013’s UFC Fight Night 26 from Boston.

Taking a fighter like Diaz,’ who’s long been known for his cardiovascular endurance as a triathlete, would be a feat in and of itself. Are you buying Kavanagh’s prediction that McGregor will survive late to finish the resilient veteran in Diaz?

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Eddie Alvarez Asks Dana White For ‘Gimme Fight’ Against Conor McGregor

The dust had hardly settled on Eddie Alvarez’s emphatic first-round stoppage of former champ Rafael dos Anjos in the main event of last night’s (July 7, 2016) UFC Fight Night 90 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and talk had already shifted to just whom Alvarez would fight next in the stacked

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Sure, there were top-level contenders like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson awaiting their shot at gold, but the predictable choice for the biggest event was obviously a fight with featherweight champion Conor McGregor, who’s set to rematch Nate Diaz at welterweight in the main event of August 20’s UFC 202.

There are still several roadblocks to get past in order to make McGregor vs. Alvarez a reality, but if a realistic chance does indeed arise, “The Underground King” is certainly all for it. He compared the deep UFC 155-pound talent pool to McGregor’s skills at the post-fight presser, and needless to say, it added up to Alvarez dubbing the ‘Notorious’ an easy fight.

He even told the Irish trash talker that he welcomes it directly:

“For me, I think by far, the best lightweight in this division is Rafael dos Anjos. I had the better night for sure, but this can go either way. There’s great competitors and there’s a real small margin for error. And if you mess up once, it could be me on the other end of that punch. So, this guy to the right of me is the best in the division, so to be able to come out with a win over him, and before him was Pettis, and before him was Gilbert, these are the best guys in the division. I’m not taking on Top 15, so I would ask Dana White to give me an easier fight like Conor McGregor. I deserve that, I’ve been fighting the best guys, so I would like a gimme fight, so Conor, I more than welcome that.”

Alvarez expounded upon that notion, adding his thoughts that McGregor has simply been given favorable match-ups throughout his undefeated run of the featherweight division, which stopped when he moved up in weight to take on a late replacement in Diaz only to be brutally submitted at March 5’s UFC 196.

Believing McGregor to be a one-trick pony, he offered the opinion that the UFC’s biggest star would be exposed in short order if he was ever to face a top 155-pound like himself or dos Anjos:

“There’s a lot of guys in the UFC who are good at one thing and they get matched up stylistically well and they make their way to the top without ever going against the best guys. The true best guys like Rafael dos Anjos and the best guys in the division. They sneak their way around them and they live on perception, not what really is. He’s one of ’em. So I think he could get found out, if he was ever to fight Rafael dos Anjos or myself, he would get found out very quickly.”

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