After UFC 202, the overriding question the UFC faces with respect to both Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz.
Advertisement
UFC featherweight Conor McGregor beat Nate Diaz by majority decision to avenge his UFC 196 defeat. The five-round welterweight fight is an instant front-runner for fight of the year.
McGregor was awarded the decision (48-47, 47-47, 48-47) on the three judges scorecards. CSNBayArea.com also scored the contest 48-47 for McGregor. “The King is back!” to raucous cheers from the crowd.
However, debate has erupted online over the result, with a split among some UFC fans over whether McGregor really did gain the upper hand. “I don’t wanna sound bitter because I’ve gotten paid, it’s all good, you know what I’m saying, but he did a lot of running in that fight”. “‘I kicked his knee clean, I think it was in the first round and then I just kept kicking but other than that I’m ideal”.
Once Diaz picked up the pace, the bout never slowed down. Diaz attempted 446 strikes, while McGregor attempted 313.
Once the fight was green lighted for UFC 202, McGregor said he spent 0,000 on his camp, which is an absurd amount of money. I took it to him and stayed in it and got the win so, I’m very happy. I didn’t get to train.
McGregor v Diaz 2 was billed as a bitter grudge match and antics between the pair in the days leading up to the fight did nothing to dispel that notion.
And plenty of them were willing to put their necks on the line in the immediate aftermath of this gruelling duel by claiming that Diaz should, in fact, have come away victorious.
“We’re definitely not doing this a third time right now”, White told FS1 after Saturday’s event (via MMA Fighting).
“All I know is that it’s 1-1”, McGregor said. I came up to 170, now you’ll come back to 155 and we’ll finish what we’ve started. Should he choose to not accept that challenge, White says the Irishman will have to choice but to forfeit the 145-pound strap. But when asked if interim featherweight champion Jose Aldo was next, Conor didn’t mince words. If they wanna do that, if they wanna give my belt to the guy I KO’d in 13 seconds and bury that division in the prelims and the fight pass and stuff, because that’s what they’re gonna do, we’ll see.
McGregor’s game plan Saturday night was evident early.
“My leg is in bits after (the leg kicks)”. Chants of “USA” were quickly replaced by “Ole” after Diaz was knocked down in the opening round.
While White and Diaz took positions that suited their interests, McGregor left the arena on a cliffhanger.
The third round seemed to be the turning point.
The fourth round proved to be crucial.
Advertisement
Next up for McGregor may be a defense of his featherweight crown before taking on Diaz again. Will it diminish his size and strength advantage?
