The wait is nearly over for this weekend’s (Sat., August 20, 2016) UFC 202 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, where Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor will finally square off in the rematch of their blockbuster first match at March 5’s UFC 196. That bout, which Diaz emphatically won by second-round submission to send
The wait is nearly over for this weekend’s (Sat., August 20, 2016) UFC 202 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, where Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor will finally square off in the rematch of their blockbuster first match at March 5’s UFC 196.
That bout, which Diaz emphatically won by second-round submission to send the MMA world into pure upheaval, set the stage for a second fight at 170 pounds that was originally scheduled for July 9’s UFC 200.
There was word that the rematch was perhaps not receiving the hype and attention that a fight of such magnitude should, but that was all put to rest yesterday when Diaz and McGregor threw down in a wild presser that saw multiple water bottles and energy drinks thrown inside the David Copperfield Theater.
Most are picking the larger Diaz to beat McGregor for a second time due to the fact that he’s now coming in with a full camp when he beat “The Notorious” on short notice after Rafael dos Anjos was forced out earlier this year.
With the buzz back on and the entire combat sports world talking, who is your pick to win the blockbuster rematch?
After Conor McGregor showed up late, it didn’t take long at all for all hell to break lose at today’s UFC 202 press conference from Las Vegas. Right when McGregor was asked about fighting Nate Diaz, whom he’s scheduled to rematch in the main event of this Saturday night’s UFC 202, for a third time,
Right when McGregor was asked about fighting Nate Diaz, whom he’s scheduled to rematch in the main event of this Saturday night’s UFC 202, for a third time, the Stockton bad boy promptly left his seat and stormed out with his entire team throwing up their collective middle fingers.
The scene only got worse from there, with Diaz’ team, including his brother Nick and former UFC title challenger Jake Shields, throwing water bottles at “The Notorious” from afar. McGregor tossed back his own water bottles and cans of energy drink, causing a spectacle the likes of which we’ve never seen at a MMA presser before.
While it was certainly a wild affair that will inspire media attention and presumably, interest in a card that may or may not have been lacking for hype in the midst of a never-ending summer of events, many were quick to call the entire thing staged to drum up just that – hype that had supposedly been missing after Diaz soundly trounced McGregor earlier this year and the rematch was removed from UFC 200.
It’s hard to imagine that the UFC would set up a scenario where McGregor and Diaz could potentially harm fans and media members by throwing foreign objects, yet there is no small number of MMA fans who still believe it was fake. What do you think?
He may have showed up to today’s UFC 202 presser late, but it didn’t take long for UFC featherweight champ Conor McGregor to make an impact. Shortly after “The Notorious” arrived, he got into a heated war of words with arch rival Nate Diaz as expected, but what followed wasn’t expected in any way. Diaz
Shortly after “The Notorious” arrived, he got into a heated war of words with arch rival Nate Diaz as expected, but what followed wasn’t expected in any way. Diaz left his seat with the harsh words, “F— your whole team,” to which McGregor fired back, “F— your whole team. Little crackhead eses.”
Then things got a little crazy with Diaz throwing his trademark middle fingers from the crowd as the champ taunted them with several choice words before he, his brother Nick, and his longtime teammate Jake Shields started throwing bottles at McGregor.
UFC 202 had been slightly knocked for while no doubt being a big event, also suffering from a bit less hype and media coverage than expected, perhaps due to the dominant nature in which Diaz finished the first fight, or even in the middle of a long string of cards demanding much of fans’ time and money.
But now it potentially has the buzz it needed to truly burst into the stratosphere and break PPV records as White predicted.
Did the insane scene make you want to buy it more?
The UFC threw a pre-fight press conference today to get the hype building for Satruday night’s (August 20, 2016) awaited rematch between Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC 202, but the star attraction was noticeably absent from the media event when it began moments ago. After McGregor infamously ‘retired’ from
The UFC threw a pre-fight press conference today to get the hype building for Satruday night’s (August 20, 2016) awaited rematch between Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC 202, but the star attraction was noticeably absent from the media event when it began moments ago.
After McGregor infamously ‘retired’ from fighting in late April when he was unceremoniously pulled from the feature bout of UFC 200 after he missed a press conference for that once-ballyhooed card, it appears ‘The Notorious’ hasn’t learned his lesson (or just doesn’t care).
That became clear when UFC President Dana White came out looking a bit angered at today’s presser when McGregor was clearly not there, and a question about his whereabouts only made that worse when the UFC’s public face went off about McGregor respecting people’s time:
“He’s on his way. So we’re starting without him. He has to start respecting people’s time, man. Yours, theirs, mine, theirs, David Copperfield’s; everbody’s. We have only so much time in this room.”
White was having no more of it, either, quickly shuffling the discussion to the fighters who were actually there:
“Listen, we’re having a press conference here. If it’s over before he gets here, then it’s over. You have any questions other than Conor being late?”
The event then went into full swing without the Irish superstar, with White clearly remaining annoyed at McGregor’s refusal to attend his obligations. Another question appeared to anger him again when the topic of a fighter’s union was brought up, to which White replied he had no knowledge:
“Whatever. I don’t know anything about it.”
White then assured the crowd that McGregor would show up:
With only three days remaining until this weekend’s (Sat., August 20, 2016) UFC 202 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, promotion for the anticipated Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor rematch is about to get ramped up to a new level. Although the hype for the second fight may not be as feverish as it
With only three days remaining until this weekend’s (Sat., August 20, 2016) UFC 202 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, promotion for the anticipated Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor rematch is about to get ramped up to a new level.
Although the hype for the second fight may not be as feverish as it was for Diaz’s thrilling submission win over “The Notorious” at March’s UFC 196 after the Stockton bad boy replaced Rafael dos Anjos on just 11 days’ notice, the event promises to be one of the highest-grossing UFC pay-per-views of the year.
McGregor’s venomous trash-talking style may be hindered by the fact that Diaz withstood his onslaught and turned the tables by battering and choking him, but that isn’t going to stop the Irish wordsmith from suggesting that he simply ‘took the shots like Homer Simpson’ until McGregor simply couldn’t punch him anymore.
Tune in for what are certain to be more similar gems, and most likely an eventual face-off, in the UFC 202 pre-fight presser starting at 4 p.m. ET:
It’s been a long road since UFC 196 for Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz. The Irishman has gone back to camp with changes in mind, but for Diaz the pressures have been media related. Since defeating the heavy favourite McGregor in March, the Stockton bad boy has experienced a surge in popularity. With his new-found super
It’s been a long road since UFC 196 for Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz. The Irishman has gone back to camp with changes in mind, but for Diaz the pressures have been media related. Since defeating the heavy favourite McGregor in March, the Stockton bad boy has experienced a surge in popularity. With his new-found super stardom comes more responsibilities.
Is this what Diaz was hoping for? It’s part of being a big money draw, which he most certainly is now. After 10 years and 25 fights for the UFC, the cult heroes Nick and Nate have only just started receiving their dues. Ahead of UFC 202, the talk has centred around revenge for ‘The Notorious’ or a repeat for Diaz.
Life After UFC 196
During a sit down interview with BT Sports this week, Nate Diaz discussed life after UFC 196 and the rematch at UFC 202. Here are the best bits:
“There’s been a lot of press, it’s been good to get out there and do this stuff. The fight never ended though. They called me three days after the first fight and it was straight back in to training. With all the press and stuff, it feels like the fight hasn’t ended yet. It’s good to let people see what I’m really like, because before people would look at me like I was a maniac.”
“At this stage in my career I don’t have to fight. I just want to do the real big fights, so I can pay bills and take care of stuff outside of fighting. Am I supposed to fight for fun, because I like to hurt people? I don’t think so, I don’t like to hurt people or ruin people’s days. This fight shit is a rough life. I just want to live my life. I’ve been doing it for 25 fights now. I just want to fight for big deals, big paydays.”
Training For The Rematch
“I just do what I do. I got a lot of pro sparring partners from boxing and kickboxing. I got the best Jiu Jitsu guys in the world, I just try to be ready for everything. Ready for good positions, bad positions, I just want to be ready for war. Ready for anything that’s gonna happen, win or lose, kill or be killed. I’m just trying to keep my head on my shoulders.”
“I don’t expect to get knocked out by anybody, but I accept the fact. There’s two options in a fight–you win or you lose. You better think of every way you can win, but more importantly you should think of every way you can lose. You should be prepared so when it does happen you won’t be heart-broken.”
Next Fights
“I’m gonna fight this fight, then whoever wants it, they better be a big fight. People are saying all this shit like ‘oh you lost this fight,’ it’s like fuck that. You fight 25 times in the UFC and then talk. People get to fight me, they get to fight my brother Nick, we’re the big names. If you want to fight me, I don’t want to hear no Twitter call out. You better say my name loud.”
Will Nate Diaz defeat Conor McGregor again? With just a few days left before UFC 202, it’s won’t be long until we find out. How insane would it be if the Irishman returned to featherweight on the back of two losses?
