“Surprise, surprise, m***********! The king is back!”
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The second scrap between the two lived up to, an indeed in many respects exceeded, expectations with a fight that ebbed and flowed from start to finish. Avenging his first loss in nearly six years was just the tip of the iceberg.
Conor McGregor has, at UFC 202 overnight, silenced those who doubted his commitment, endurance and abilities by avenging his defeat to Nate Diaz, suffered at UFC 196.
However, the Dublin-born fighter looked to be tiring in the third round as the momentum shifted to Diaz, who landed a number of sickening blows to McGregor’s head and body. Perry landed early and often, and referee Big John McCarthy let Lim stand up and get knocked down at least two more times before he called a TKO via strikes at 3:38 of the first round. It would soon transpire that Conor blamed something else.
Few matchups reach the epic stage of combat sports, but that’s exactly where the McGregor-Diaz rivalry now exists.
McGregor came to the post-fight press conference on crutches but insisted all was rosy.
McGreor has no interest in going to the ground though, and waved Diaz back up to his feet – he duly obliged.
He did just that in a brutal and exciting bout which fans across the globe loved. He must feel like he can overrule Dana, just like he did when he was able to get a fight with Rafael dos Anjos while keeping his belt. A rematch between the two could headline any card at any time.
“I came to this fight worse off than last time”, Diaz said. “I got to show my heart in there”.
“But, psshh, he shoulda finished me off”. When asked about the future of this rivalry, McGregor said that he is ready to fight Diaz again but the next time, he wants the fight to take place in the lightweight (70 kg) category.
‘Now this trilogy is on my terms, come back down to 155 and we’ll do it.
A rematch with Jose Aldo?
“This was a hell of an important fight for me”, admitted McGregor, whose rocketing reputation was slowed significantly by that submission in March.
“I could have gone in there and pressed, but I was patient”, McGregor said. In my whole career, I’ve thrown about three leg kicks. “That’s the way it is for me and for them”.
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With the series tied at a victory apiece, and with both men taking home lucrative purses, Diaz received a disclosed $2 million while McGergor took home a UFC-record $3 million, it’s easy to see that both men want to settle the score with a third fight. The talk always turns very quickly to what’s next and McGregor’s options have already been discussed at great length.
