In recent months, UFC featherweight world champion Conor McGregor has been talking about the possibility of a fantasy fight with retired five division world boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr.
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Diaz, for his part, believed he had won the fight and echoed his opponent’s calls for another rematch.
Judges gave Ireland’s McGregor a majority decision victory, setting the stage for a lucrative third fight.
On Saturday, Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz offered evidence that the sport might be worth every penny.
Although, McGregor insisted that he would only step into the octagon again with Diaz at lightweight.
Here’s a breakdown of the official scorecard: Judge Glenn Trowbridge was responsible for the 47-47 tally, while Jeff Mullen and Derek Cleary had the exact same scorecard with McGregor taking it 48-47.
Bantamweight prospect Cody Garbrandt (10-0) notched his fifth UFC win with a devastating first-round knockout over veteran Japanese fighter Takeya Mizugaki (21-10-2). “You want this trilogy, it’s on my terms”. Come back down and I’ll see you at UFC205 or drop the belt! He’s a hell of a competitor. Obviously I think I could have done better and done some better things. They said I was done and it certainly lit a fire under me.
McGregor forced the action early, landing multiple leg kicks to Diaz’s lead leg and a straight left that knocked Diaz down. “Hey good job today, Conor, but we’re going for three”, said Diaz.
In the second, the leg kicks continued and Diaz was caught with several stiff left hands.
The fight itself started off well for McGregor who twice downed Diaz in the first but he deliberately failed to take the fight to the mat, remaining standing when Diaz went down.
“Surprise, surprise, [expletive], the king is back”, McGregor declared.
There is talk of a trilogy to settle the rivalry, and it certainly sounds as though Diaz believes he still has a point to prove against McGregor. The Irish fighter was in big trouble in the last seconds of the match but was luckily saved by the bell.
“To top it off, I was injured coming into this fight”.
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The UFC 202 main card also featured a pivotal welterweight fight between Donald Cerrone and Rick Story.
