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Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz Full Fight Video Highlights

Seeking revenge for the brutal second-round submission he suffered at March’s UFC 196, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor finally squared off with rival Nate Diaz in the main event of tonight’s (Sat., August 20, 2016) UFC 202 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight lived up to all the hype and circumstance,

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The fight lived up to all the hype and circumstance, delivering a classic slugfest that McGregor took home by close majority decision. McGregor used a varied arsenal of leg kicks and straight left hands to batter the zombie-like Diaz, who somehow stayed upright to return fire and have the featherweight champ in big trouble in the middle rounds.

McGregor dug deep and won the fourth round, and even though he most likely lost the fifth, he ultimately took home the huge win. Many believe that Diaz did enough and should have gotten the nod, opening the door for a huge trilogy match in the future.

Watch the full fight video highlights of McGregor’s big win right here:

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The Stakes Are Ridiculously High For Conor McGregor At UFC 202

With only a few short hours left until tonight’s (Sat., August 20, 2016) UFC 202 from Las Vegas, Nevada, the MMA world waits with baited breath to see what will happen in the second fight of featherweight champion Conor McGregor’s long, strange rivalry with Nate Diaz. By now we all know what happened in the

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By now we all know what happened in the first fight at UFC 196, where Diaz filled in for then-lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos on just 11 days’ notice to batter and submit “The Notorious” in the second round after losing the first round to several heavy blows.

But what followed after McGregor showed a surprising amount of humility, honesty, and class at the UFC 196 post-fight presser arguably has the ultra-popular champion fighting for a large chunk of his lofty fighting status. His short ‘retirement’ that ultimately lead to his removal from the originally scheduled rematch with Diaz at UFC 200, coupled with the strange, dangerous bottle-and-can-throwing incident at Wednesday’s pre-fight press conference suggest that Diaz might just be inside McGregor’s head. We’ll find out tonight, but at the end of the day, he just has to win in order to silence his critics.

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Yes, he’ll always have the featherweight title he’s never defended, something that UFC President Dana White has gone on record saying he will do in his next bout regardless of what happens with Diaz tonight.

However, two straight losses to a fighter who’s being billed as a welterweight but is, in reality, a lightweight who while no doubt a top contender, has lost to many of the top 155-pound fighters in MMA, would obviously be devastating to the ridiculously lofty bar McGregor has set for himself with his nonstop trash talk. There will be excuses made, but the fact will remain that there just hasn’t ever been a UFC champion who is coming off two losses to the same opponent.

It would also lend McGregor’s frequent stinging tongue lashes much less weight, as it’s hard to get fans to take a fighter seriously who says they’re going to destroy everyone in their path while on a losing streak. Again, the featherweight fray that McGregor has by all accounts dominated since his UFC debut in April 2013 will always be there, but it’s still a matter of whether or not he can actually make that weight safely again. “The Notorious” has put on serious muscle mass for his move up to lightweight and then welterweight, and even his longtime coach John Kavanagh has stated he doesn’t want to see his prized fighter make the draining cut down to 145 again.

Case in point, check out how drained McGregor looks compared to the much more bloated form he was in at UFC 196:

That picture is quite a shocking contrast, and in an era where the health impacts of extreme weight cuts are being taken more and more seriously by the day, it might not be a good look for the sport’s biggest star to put himself through another drastic and taxing cut. The weight issue coupled with the daunting specter of a two-fight losing streak to Diaz not surprisingly makes tonight’s main event a bout with absolutely stratospheric stakes for the Irish superstar, and therefore, it’s a bout he must win.

The fight is also one that carries astronomical stakes for the UFC. With talent agency WME-IMG and their investors recently having bought the UFC for upwards of $4 billion in the midst of the most unpredictable run of title changes in UFC history, the promotion is in serious need of stars. McGregor, along with Ronda Rousey, is obviously their biggest one, so another loss would be devastating for his legitimacy and the new owners’ profit margins. Some rumors have surfaced that WME has already soured on their massive purchase, and while that speculation is just rumor, it wouldn’t be hard to suggest that they may have a serious case of buyers’ remorse were McGregor to lose again and leave them with a long list of champions who absolutely struggle to sell a pay-per-view on their own.

There’s most likely a path to victory for McGregor this evening, but with him predicting a second-round knockout of the iron-chinned Diaz, the high-volume five-round affair that will probably be required might not be what McGregor plans on implementing.

We’ll have to wait and see what transpires in one of the most intriguing MMA fights of the year (and perhaps ever), yet regardless of what goes down from the T-Mobile Arena tonight, the stakes are unquestionably high for McGregor, and in an unprecedented manner never before matched in the relatively young sport of MMA.

The exact same thing could – and should – be said for the UFC and its new owners.

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Video: Sheriffs Deny Nick Diaz At UFC 202 Weigh-Ins

When Wednesday’s UFC 202 pre-fight presser devolved into an all-out chaotic fracas involving water bottles and cans of energy drinks being thrown, there were expectedly sanctions to be had as the result. As a clear antagonist of the situation, Nick Diaz was obviously in the thick of things for his brother Nate Diaz’ pivotal rematch

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When Wednesday’s UFC 202 pre-fight presser devolved into an all-out chaotic fracas involving water bottles and cans of energy drinks being thrown, there were expectedly sanctions to be had as the result.

As a clear antagonist of the situation, Nick Diaz was obviously in the thick of things for his brother Nate Diaz’ pivotal rematch with Conor McGregor in the main event of Saturday’s (August 20, 2016) UFC 202 fro the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Diaz was unable to corner Nate due to the fact that even though his 18-month suspension for testing positive for marijuana had expired, he still owed $75,000 to the NSAC and was therefore technically still suspended.

Things only got worse when UFC President Dana white revealed that the chaos had already lead to a lawsuit being filed when a child was struck with a flying object in the melee. While that could certainly cost both Diaz and McGregor some serious coin in the future, the more immediate impact of Team Diaz’ actions became apparent at today’s (Fri., August 19, 2016) official weigh-ins for UFC 202.

Already unable to corner his brother, Sheriffs deputies denied Nick Diaz entry to the weigh-ins today. He posted a short SnapChat video of him getting sent away as fans cheered emphatically for him (via MMA Fighting):

The Stockton slugger looked none too happy with his removal from the final event to hype up what could turn out to be the most riveting fight of the packed UFC calendar year. With his return looming and some potentially huge fights on the horizon for the ultra-popular former champion who hasn’t won a fight since 2011, Diaz will have to pay his fine in order to accrue the multiple millions that definitely await his return.

But with the NSAC on his heels for his fine money and now for his actions they deemed unprofessional this week, he’ll also have to keep his nose clean in the eyes of the commission if he ever wants to be able to participate in those huge bouts.

And that’s not something that the Diaz brothers are known all that much for.

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Conor McGregor’s Threat: I’ll Kill Diaz’ Whole Team & Their ‘Bitch T–s’

Following an all-out melee between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz’ whole team at Wednesday’s UFC 202 pre-fight presser, security was tight at today’s (Fri., August 19, 2016) official weigh-ins, and justifiably so. After Diaz’ team was banned from all events, the Stockton superstar came out with only Gilbert Melendez to the weigh-ins, and not surprisingly, it

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Following an all-out melee between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz’ whole team at Wednesday’s UFC 202 pre-fight presser, security was tight at today’s (Fri., August 19, 2016) official weigh-ins, and justifiably so.

After Diaz’ team was banned from all events, the Stockton superstar came out with only Gilbert Melendez to the weigh-ins, and not surprisingly, it took several men to separate the heated rivals.

Also not surprisingly, the two had some more classic words for one another after weighing in, starting with McGregor threat to kill Diaz, his whole team, and their supposed “bitch t–s”:

“He shoulda killed me when he had he had the chance, because now I’m gonna kill you and your whole f—–‘ team. You and their b—- tits.”

Diaz was quick to respond, noting that he’s coming to kill or be killed just as he was at UFC 196 earlier this year, when he submitted McGregor with a second round rear-naked choke. He closed with an emphatic statement of support for his home country heading into his rematch with Irishman McGregor:

“I train always hard to kill. He’s already dead from the last time. This a new guy. So it’s kill or be killed again. USA motherf—–!”

So the stage is officially set, and all that’s left is for Diaz and McGregor to throw don for a second time in one of the biggest UFC cards of the year.

Is Diaz inside McGregor’s head?

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UFC 202 Predictions: Did Anyone Pick Conor McGregor?

The wait is finally over and UFC 202 will go down tomorrow night (Sat., August 20, 2016) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Featuring an anticipated welterweight rematch between Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor, the event’s hype was blown up to a new level when the two sides got into a bizarre bottle-throwing spectacle

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But despite that buzz, many are still picking the bigger Diaz to beat McGregor again he brutally submitted him in the second round of their first match-up at UFC 196.

Who did we pick to win the two main bouts of UFC 202? Find out below.

Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor:

Mike Drahota:

This is a huge fight for the UFC in not only that it’s arguably the biggest PPV of the year, but also one where the reputation of its biggest star is on the line, at least in some capacity. Yes, McGregor will still be featherweight champion if he loses, but a second straight defat to Diaz will undoubtedly rip away some of his mystique, something that has already happened since UFC 196.

The excuses were there then and they will be there now, so all McGregor can do to quiet the haters is win. In order to do so, he has to keep up a high volume of leg kicks, which Diaz has largely been susceptible to throughout his career. He also has to keep his cardio sustainable by not going for the knockout with every blow on the iron-chinned Diaz. Diaz, meanwhile, is the much bigger fighter, is more experienced and technical on the ground, and looks great after actually having a full training camp this time around.

After the presser fiasco, it would seem Diaz and his team are in McGregor’s head somewhat, similar to Ronda Rousey’s weigh-in outburst before her devastating loss to Holly Holm. I can’t disregard that here. I’m picking Diaz by second round submission.

Rory Kernaghan:

The rematch between Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor was boosted by the crazy press conference scuffle earlier this week, but what happens when they really do get it on? It’s quite a tough one, with numerous factors influencing their first meeting.

If McGregor were to show up in the same condition (cardio) as last time, I’d pick Diaz 10 times out of 10, but I don’t believe this to be the case. As we saw from last fight, their styles match very well on the feet, so for me this is very much a gut-based pick.

Going against the grain, I’m going to pick Conor McGregor for the TKO in round three. This wasn’t an easy pick to make, especially considering their last fight, but I just can’t shake the feeling of a revenge knockout in the making here.

Mike Henken:

I must admit that I have constantly gone back and forth with my prediction for this fight. In my opinion, Diaz is without question the more well-rounded fighter. His boxing is crisp and voluminous, and his cardio is second to none which often allows him to implement a pace that simply breaks his opponents.

When it comes to the ground, Diaz’s submission skills are world-class, and I’m not sure that McGregor will have been able to catch up in that department over the last six months. On top of all of these things, Diaz will be coming into this bout on the heels of a full training camp which could make him even more dangerous . With that being said, I’m going with my gut here, and my gut says that the Irishman will get the job done.

Diaz’s path to victory appears to be much clearer, but I think McGregor will come much more prepared this time around. Given that this fight means so much to him, I feel as if his cardio will be better than ever, and his strategy will be on my point. He’ll need to be able stick and move and land combinations consistently for five rounds here in order to get his revenge. He’ll also likely have to keep the fight standing. I’m going out on a limb here, but I’m picking McGregor by unanimous decision.

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Conor McGregor: I Dominated The Grappling With Diaz Until My Tank Was Gone

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When looking at what went wrong for Conor McGregor in his first fight with Nate Diaz at March 5, 2016’s UFC 196, many would likely agree that he had a significant disadvantage in the grappling department and that he gassed as the fight went on which led to him being submitted in the second round of their main event bout. With that being said, it’s no surprise that McGregor has been working diligently on his jiu-jitsu and his conditioning ahead of his highly-anticipated rematch with Diaz set for this Saturday’s (August 20, 2016) UFC 202 from Las Vegas, Nevada. What is surprising, however, is that the “Notorious” one feels as if he ‘dominated’ the grappling exchanges with Diaz up until he ate a left hand and his gas tank depleted:

“There’s no questioning he’s a skilled fighter, but I feel that in all of the grappling exchanges up until after that left hand landed and my tank just emptied, I won all the grappling exchanges,” McGregor said. “He caught that kick, took me down. I swept him, controlled him on top. All the situations against the fence, he was reversed. I felt I dominated every grappling exchange up until his left hand landed and my tank was gone.” McGregor said on last night’s (August 17, 2016) edition of UFC Tonight.

Despite the bad blood between the two, McGregor noted Diaz’s ‘high level’ skillset, but once again admitted that he’s ‘confident’ in his jiu-jitsu heading into UFC 202’s headliner:

“But make no mistake, there was skill involved in that positioning to mount and the guillotine in the shot,” McGregor said of Diaz’ reversal. “There was high-level stuff going on in there, but I’m confident in my jiu-jitsu as well.”

McGregor has brought in world class grappling guru Dillon Danis in preparation for the rematch with Diaz, but will that be enough to take out the Stockton Bad Boy?

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