Currently, the featherweight champ, McGregor (19-3) had lost to Diaz via a second-round submission in his most recent bout back in March after moving up to welterweight.
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The Irishman edged out Diaz in a five-round thriller in Las Vegas on Saturday, to avenge his UFC 196 defeat to the American. McGregor won by majority decision.
The rematch was arguably the biggest fight in UFC history, and McGregor came out on the winning end.
“I want number 3”.
McGregor and Diaz were also awarded with the “Fight of the Night” citation, with both men receiving an additional $50,000 bonus each.
Diaz then fought his way back into the match as McGregor began to tire as the fight progressed.
According to the score cards, Diaz did win two rounds as judges Jeff Mullen and Derek Cleary marked them in favour of the Stockton man.
McGregor, the lightweight champion at 145 pounds, said he wants their third bout to be fought closer to his preferred fighting weight than the 170 of the first two fights.
“When we fight again, it’ll be on my terms”, he said. I’m letting you know, if we ain’t doing any of that, you already know who’s gonna win! The result was a much more inactive Diaz, as he never got off anything more than spurts of his volume punching.
All the above has discussed McGregor’s current options inside the UFC, though speaking at the post-fight press conference last evening he hinted that he could be looking at other projects outside of the Octagon. I didn’t see the fight going five rounds… Diaz was able to secure a takedown in the final seconds and finished the fight in top position, but it wasn’t enough in the judges’ eyes.
“I felt I won the fight”, McGregor told reporters following the fight.
McGregor put that down to the resilience of Diaz: “He took them (punches) better than I expected”. Both McGregor and Diaz had their moments through the intense 25-minute war which left both fighters a bloody mess and had fight fans asking for a trilogy.
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Diaz alluded to not having a good training camp leading up to the fight, even mentioning an injury, although he was quick to point out that he didn’t want to use that as an excuse.
