“At least Nate was engaging in the conversation”, McGregor said, even while criticizing Diaz for asking for a higher weight limit.
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“Every fighter poses a different threat but the Diaz fight was something everyone wanted to see – [including] me personally – and I just watched the press conference last night, which was pretty amusing”.
The weight the fight would take place was an initial stumbling block as Diaz’s camp said he could not cut to lightweight (155lbs) with less than two weeks to prepare.
“I respect Nate”, McGregor said. “Ice! Ibuprofen! If I jumped under an X-ray (with that injury), the doctor would slap me and say, ‘What are you doing, kid?” He’s like a little cholo from the hood.
And McGregor, the UFC’s featherweight champion, received an extraordinary amount of credit for agreeing to move up two weight classes, to welterweight, to face Nate Diaz in the newly constituted UFC 196 on March 5 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Don’t get me wrong. That’s really the business that we’re in. And business is business.
Diaz firmed as the replacement, but the weight was a sticking point. I feel his repetitive foot patterns and his poor motions are too readable, too predictable. The speed will stifle him. “He is soft in the body and that will be his downfall – he won’t be able to handle the pressure and the ferocity”, McGregor claimed.
For his part Diaz seemed unfazed.
It was the fastest finish in a UFC title fight but simply echoed McGregor’s pre-fight prediction of a first-round finish. “F– you”, Diaz said. “That’s what I’m coming with”. Today you get to watch that whole segment unedited, uncensored and with all the colour of two men who want to beat each other to a pulp.
This has left many fighters in disarray, including former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, who was promised a featherweight title shot right after his first round knockout victory against former title contender Chad Mendes a the Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale, a day prior UFC 194.
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Dana White spoke to TMZ about Diaz’s comments, saying “The UFC unquestionably has the best drug testing program in all of sports”, White said.
