Conor McGregor Confident He'll Toy with Nate Diaz… Again
Call him brash or call him crazy, but Conor McGregor believes he is going to toy with Nate Diaz in their rematch at UFC 202 on Aug. 20 in Las Vegas.
The more brash part of McGregor's claim is his belief that he toyed with Diaz in their first meeting at UFC 196, a fight that McGregor lost via second-round submission.
“I'm feeling very confident in myself that I'll go in and toy with this man,” McGregor said during a recent Q&A session in support of his coach John Kavanagh's new book, “Win or Learn.” “Eight minutes of the fight, I was toying with him. That fadeaway left hand that he caught me with, my senses were still there. It was almost like a fatigue thing that my balance was gone.”
McGregor attributes much of his aforementioned fatigue to a lack of having to cut weight. He was originally slated to challenge Rafael dos Anjos for the champion's UFC lightweight title at 155 pounds, and had prepared for that weight. Dos Anjos had to withdraw due to injury, and when Diaz stepped up at the last minute to keep McGregor on the card, the bout was changed to a welterweight contest.
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Having only to hit 170 pounds, McGregor didn't have to cut weight, which changed his fight week preparations. Although, on the surface, that would appear to be a positive development, it drew away from McGregor's focus and backfired in the fight.
“I was almost like, I don't have to make weight, I can train all day long,” he continued. “So we were doing six-to-eight-hour sessions on fight week, swinging on gymnastics rings. Looking back, it wasn't the best idea and it came back and bit me in the ass. I was a little bit heavy in the midsection, I was overtrained, my diet wasn't great, and it came back and bit me in the ass.”
He believes, however, that it was a lesson learned; a lesson that will benefit him in the rematch, which will also take place at 170 pounds.
“As coach always says, we win or we learn, and I have learned and I am focused,” said McGregor. “I'm staying on my nutrition. I'm very fight-orientated. I'm not swinging on gymnastic rings too much and I certainly won't be doing it on fight week.”
(Video courtesy of MMA Ireland)
