I’ve had a few friends ask for my take on Saturday’s main-event (if you haven’t caught up on UFC 196, see my play-by-play and fight highlights here. The entire affair was a call back to UFC of old: a ‘meh’ card up until the co-main event. I’ve been away from the UFC, and Mixed Martial Arts as a whole, for awhile, but this card refueled my fanaticism for sure. After Tate was able to break the code and win herself a title, her performance set the stage for a fight that almost meant more than a gold belt. This fight was filled with pride, passion, and animosity from both men, but perhaps for very different reasons. Here, I’ll detail the beginning, middle, and end of a brilliant fight that brought together the new-age of MMA in Conor McGregor and the gritty warrior mentality that was cultivated in the late-‘00s, UFC Unleashed-era of MMA in Nathan Diaz.

The Beginning

Let me briefly set the stage for what Dana White has called, “the biggest fight ever” (in the post-fight press conference, link below). The final tally would be 14,898 in attendance and an $8.1 million gate. McGregor became the first UFC fighter to walk away with a million dollars on a fight, despite the loss. And this fight wasn’t even supposed to happen.

Leading into the fight, both men had vastly different trajectories. Conor McGregor was coming off a spectacular, career-defining, one-punch knockout over the then-Bantamweight champion, Jose Aldo, to capture UFC gold. The way I saw it, McG was on a date with destiny, which was met in that KO win.

In the year leading up to the the Aldo fight (originally slated for 11 July 2015, an injury would keep Aldo out until the two would meet fatefully on 12 Dec 2015 ), McGregor branded himself for his impeccable fashion sense, technically-sound mentality, Fighting-Irish Pride, and, of course, the multi-dimensional trash-talk. Immediately after winning the 145lbs belt, McGregor called out UFC Lightweight (155lbs) champion Rafael Dos Anjos, who was the initial match-up for the main event of UFC 196. The owner of a 15-fight win streak, McGregor had not lost in over five years in MMA, including six T/KO wins in his, at the time, seven UFC fights. However, a broken foot would sideline RDA, leave McG without a fight and UFC 196 without a Main Event. Intro: Nate Diaz.

Nate Diaz has literally fought in the UFC for almost nine years. The Ultimate Fighter Season 5 winner (TUFis going on 23 seasons in 2016), Diaz has had one helluva career, including a 4-2 W-L string early in the UFC that earned him post-fight bonuses six times in a row. In 2011-12, he put together a three-fight string of post-fight bonuses before losing to, then-Lightweight Champion, Benson Henderson in a 155lbs title fight. Coming into the fight with McGregor, Nate was 2-3 (incl. the Henderson fight) with two postfight bonuses, but also a KO loss to Josh Thomsen and a mauling Decision loss to aforementioned RDA, who would win the UFC title in his next respective fight. Leading into the fight, however, Nate Diaz was coming off a “Fight of the Night” Decision win.

According to Diaz, two-weeks prior to the fight (when Nate got the call), he was in Cabo (Mexico) on a beach. However, after his last win, Diaz made it known he was game for one particular fighter:

[warning: adult language]

Soon, the fight was inked, and the weight-class was announced at Welterweight, 170lbs (!!!). This was due to Diaz’s short, two-week camp, as well as McGregor being game.

Once the fight was announced, Joe Rogan had a hilarious discussion on his podcast with Eddie Bravo and Brendan Schaub.

Upon finally meeting in front of cameras, it was clear to me that this would not be a McGregor-show. McGregor’s trash-talk was good, but Nate Diaz has always made good on his half of the Diaz Bros. and was not phased in the slightest.

(Skip to 26:45 or press that annotation in the top-right of the video)

However, less than a week out, Nate Diaz showed his mutual respect with McGregor on UFC Tonight.

The Fight! — Fight!

Alright, the meat of it all. By all accounts, McGregor was winning that fight. In the first round, McGregor found his mark with his overhand left/ left hook. Starting fast and looking confident, McGregor appeared unphased by Diaz’s boxing, got the better of more than ¾ of the exchanges in my estimate, and was able to out-grapple Nate at the end of the round to finish in top position. From my standpoint, 10-9 Conor, easy. Not to mention Nate Diaz was cut rather bad over his right eye, which began to leak by the end of the 1st. However, remember hindsight is 20/20, McGregor would later say he was “inefficient” with his strikes, which I can agree with now. The pace was very high in the 1st, with many striking exchanges. Also, though, was the fact that McGregor was throwing his arsenal of wheel, side, and head kicks. McGregor was able to out-box Diaz in round 1, but he was boxing him for the most part as the majority of his kicks were not finding their targets.

Progressing into the second, it was much of the same. High exchange rate, lots of blood flowing from Diaz, and McGregor looked on the way to winning the second round. Then, Diaz hit him with a two-piece.

Then another one. Then another one. With one combination, Nate Diaz changed the entire complexion of the fight… Or did he? He was definitely losing on the scorecards, and had been very slightly rocked in the first by McGregor’s punches. He was cut and leaking like a faucet. Then he stumbles McGregor with his long-reaching punches. In complete UFC-veteran style, Diaz smelled blood in the deep waters. McGregor looked to dance and circle, but could not keep himself away from the ensuing punch combos. His desperation double leg was just that and the subsequent ground-and-pound and jiujitsu by Diaz was all she wrote.

The End — How?

One might make the observation or argument that Diaz mounted a “comeback” to beat McGregor in spectacular fashion. Which is a fair assessment, as mentioned earlier, McGregor was winning the fight. The majority of the exchanges were on the feet, and McGregor was winning them. Further, the eye-ball test agrees with the belief that McGregor was winning. Nate Diaz was cut before the end of the 1st round, and by the mid-2nd was making an effort to wipe the blood out of his eye with his right hand. But I wouldn’t make the reach that Nate Diaz was on the brink and had to perform extraordinarily to win this fight. Diaz would go on, post-fight, to say he needed to warm himself up in the fight, prior to getting into the groove.

I argue that McGregor finally fought an opponent that was not deterred by, well, anything he brought to the table. Though some will point out that McGregor was fighting 25lbs over his championship weight (170lbs compared to 145lbs). It must be noted that Nate Diaz is essentially a career lightweight with a handful of welterweight fights. I find the weight “excuse” is negligible. They both went up (weights).

After watching the fight (and cheering with elation that my pick, Diaz, had won despite McGregor being a -400 Favorite to win), I could only think, “that was a ‘Diaz fight.” Anyone who’s been a fan of MMA since the early-2000s can attest to that. McGregor was landing at a high-volume and was dictating the pace. BUT, what he may have not expected was the reality in the warrior-mentality of Nate Diaz. A veteran, Diaz was 18-10 coming into this fight. A casual look would make one believe it’d be no contest: McGregor is on a 15-fight win streak and Diaz is 2-3 in his last 5 fights. However, of 28 fights for Nate coming into UFC 196, 21 were in the UFC. His career has been made in the deepest talent pool in professional MMA. No one lasts 20+ UFC fights in the UFC unless they are an elite martial artist.

Cut and not hurting a pressing-Conor, where most would panic, Diaz fought. He was in his world. The taller fighter, Diaz made McGregor fight without all of the advantages he was used to at Bantamweight. McGregor no longer had the reach advantage, forcing him to extend on his punches (and expend more energy). His powerful left-hand (which knocked Jose Aldo out cold) was not as devastating, one may even argue it was negligible to Nate. McGregor’s arsenal of elaborate cartwheel, side, and roundhouse kicks were landing with less efficiency than in previous fights, and many attempts caught air or glove (again, forcing McGregor to expend more energy than necessary). Further, Diaz, a Cesar Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt and known savage off-his-back:

was assuredly the better grappler between the two (though Conor McGregor is a reported jiu-jitsu brown belt, for what it’s worth).

In my mind, I was inclined to be for Nate Diaz (my California bias may shine through here). What happened was what he wanted, in that McGregor hit him with some heavy left hands, and Diaz brushed the dirt (blood) off his proverbial shoulders and threw back punches of his own. McGregor kept throwing, and kept landing, but Nate kept moving forward. The fact that McGregor’s stature advantages that made him such a complex fighter to gameplan for at 145 were taken out of his arsenal essentially shocked McGregor mid-fight when he was finally rocked. This may be due to the fact that Diaz also walked through the exchanges, bloody, cut, and in relentless pursuit. Eliminating key components of McGregor’s striking and being the better grappler, Nate Diaz was able to break down a previously unbroken code, and hand McGregor his first UFC loss in the most Diaz way possible, rocking him off his feet and forcing him to submit. As Nick Diaz said, “Don’t be scared, homie.”

Where Now?

Above are links of Nate Diaz’s media interview post-fight and the UFC 196 post-fight press conference as a whole. It mainly focuses on Tate-Holm and Diaz-McGregor.

An aside for the McGregor naysayers, who may believe McGregor got what he asked for, based on his trash-talk. It must be illuminated that, in my perspective, McGregor's trash-talk is all part of the game. Muhammed Ali did it to powerful affect (and effect). McGregor was able to use it to completely psyche out Jose Aldo. Even when he won the 145lbs belt, he was humble and sympathetic of Jose Aldo's position. McGregor's first words in this loss were, "I am humble in victory or defeat," and those were earnest words. More on this can be seen in the post-fight presser.

In terms of where McGregor and Diaz go from here, I have a few theories. In the post-fight presser, McGregor hinted that he would still like to be on the UFC 200 card (a milestone card that will likely be the biggest UFC event to date), while also suggesting that he will likely be going back down to 145lbs to defend his title. I see McGregor’s position as the first of its kind in MMA. McGregor, a 145lbs champion, almost got the title-shot for 155lbs until RDA got injured. Now, after a loss at 170lbs, it’s as if McGregor is in at a fork in the road that no one else has traveled. He’s finally lost but what solace will that give the 145lbs division when they aren’t as big as Nate Diaz? Conor is still undefeated at 145 and his last fight at the weight was (to belabor the point) a one-punch knockout of Jose Aldo. It’s an odd fact to remember now that he has lost. As for Nate Diaz, he states clearly in the post-fight presser that he’s tired of being buried on non-PPV, UFC on FOX cards. He wants the biggest fight he can get, next. We will see what’s in store for these two gentlemen in the lead up to UFC 200.

For some extra laughs, check out Joe Rogan and Eddie Bravo going over the topic of 'where now?' as well as dispelling some possible Conor naysayers,

Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed the in-depth look at the most interesting fight in recent history. Up next in terms of coverage is UFC 197, the return of Jon Jones in the much-anticipated Daniel Cormier vs Jon Jones 2 for the UFC Light-Heavyweight (205lbs) title.