Diaz vs. McGregor II

This is the official discussion thread for Diaz vs. McGregor II. Let's see what you've got.

Nate is a good dude. They could never do this with his brother Nick. Some poor sap would have got gogoplata'd.

* Edited at 08.03.2016, 1:19 AM ET *

that first guy shat his pants and the last one was ready to get down on Nate to get out of there alive

funny stuff

I am gonna say for the sake of a three fight series which is what the UFC wants Mcgregor plays it safe and wins by decision.

Will be interesting to see if his cardio can keep up with Diaz for 5 rounds. I think Diaz wins again inside the distance and if McGregor is to win he needs a KO/TKO in the first 2 rounds. I think he would lose a decision if he was able to survive for 5 rounds.

Ufc release the 1st bout today on you tube , haven't really re watched the 1st properly since today's release , holy crap this fight is gonna good , must see mm a , must see TV , you name it

I honestly dont remember the commentary cause when it happened live, everyone I was with was yelling and getting hype.

Bad matchup for McGregor. I see him being more conservative in the first round and then looking to get the finish in the second, only to gas himself out and get finished in the next round with combinations of punches by Diaz for a TKO win.

Diaz gonna get it done again.

Foley4ever87, you are right in that is what the UFC wants. Diaz will gave to win convincingly so in case it goes to the decision.

I could be totally off base, but if somebody watched old tape there is a key formula to beating Nate Diaz. Watch The Benson Henderson fight with Diaz. Conor needs to utilize leg kicks to Nate's skinny legs and to his combos at bay, stick to the fundamentals and don't do any fancy crap and you can frustrate Nate and break him down for a win.Conor's problem is he is seeking the knockout and that could be his down fall. Nate Diaz has a head like a block of wood he is tough as hell to knock out. All Nate Diaz needs to do is really wait for his place and get the fight back to the ground so it's gonna be an interesting matchup.

Yeah, because Cerrone's leg kicks got him the win against Diaz. McGregor cannot emulate Benson simply because Benson is so much larger than McGregor. 

@Hush

That not really a fair comparison, since every time Cerorne used the leg kicks they where extremely effective against Nate. Cerrone problem is he mentally not the strongest and Nate baited him into a boxing match and then broke Cerorne. Pretending that Cerrone leg kicks where not effect is just false, they where very effective, he just barely throw them.However he dropped Nate at least 2 times from single leg kicks alone.










A better argument would have been that Conor does not throw leg kicks but rather body kicks, so it not something his typically utilizes nor shown to be overly effective with.

* Edited at 08.16.2016, 8:12 PM ET *

Meh, Nate beat the **** out of him other than getting leg kicked which he ignored and refused to check even when they were knocking him down. They didn't slow him down from continuing to box the **** out of Cerrone was my point, and they were hard, obviously coming from Cowboy.

I really don't know which way to go in this fight, which is kind of awesome. 

I thought I had Conor picked for weeks, then saw that I picked Diaz. And I was like, you know what, Past Self? I ain't even sure you're wrong. 

Re-watched the first fight today and definitely noticed the first round was not as dominant for McGregor as I thought. That said, I do think he fought quite stupidly. I think Diaz will be in better shape for the rematch but will have the same style. Conor will likely come in with a completely different approach and should be more comfortable carrying the extra weight now. 

Head says Conor. Gut says Nate repeats.

While I don't think Conor will spam overhands like he did in the first (mainly because he promised a first round knockout and fell in love with his Mystic Mac shtick), I still think that he won't knock Nate out and I doubt he has 5 rounds of stamina in him vs. a guy like Nate. 

I've seen Conor gas before, against Chad is was his partying, media obligations, partial ACL tear that prevented him from training properly. Against Diaz it was spamming overhand lefts, steaks for breakfast. Both understandable, yet I can't ignore the evidence. Conor can gas, Nate won't ever gas (at 170, 155, 125, on 11 days notice after partying in Cabo, the dude just doesn't gas). You need to outclass him for 25 minutes (or for 15 with enough left to withstand the next 10 without being finished or demolished) or finish him to beat him. Guys that outclass him usually do it with wrestling and leg kicks, neither are Conor's forte.

I think Conor did however start letting go, believing he was just too good to be touched and forgot what got him to the point he was at (which, to be honest, was only winning the belt, as amazing as the journey was, it was just that, he was acting like he had this GOAT legacy already secured before he even put in one defense). I think he didn't train like you're supposed to train when you're fighting the elite of the sport and I think he started to get to pulled into the superstar life, something he seems to have corrected for this fight so maybe he can outclass Nate for long enough to take the sting off his potency.

I still think that Conor's the better boxer, has the speed, reflexes, movement and all around feel for a fight advantage and I do believe that as long as he's got gas in the tank he can most definitely hang with Nate on the mat (I believe his grappling is highly underrated because he doesn't have anyone's "belt", but when you look at the few grappling exchanges he's had, outwrestling Holloway, something that Bermudez didn't do with such ease as Conor did on a torn ACL, the escape vs. Chad, the grappling exchange with Nate in the first round and little things he did vs. Siver and Brandau, both pretty solid grapplers, I see something there, a very good understanding of the grappling part of the game). I'm not saying he's a better grappler than Nate, just saying that it's most likely good enough for it not to be a factor if he's not spent.

BUT, I don't think those advantages are sustainable for 25 minutes nor do I believe Conor's going to finish Nate (I hope, but that's wishful thinking).

I also think that Nate has the mental advantage. Not just because he won the first one. Nate's got less at stake and Nate said it himself, Conor's been watching him. For better or for worse, Conor is obsessed with Nate while as Nate's treating Conor exactly like he treats every other opponent of his, like someone who's coming to take his lunch money and needs to be told what's up. And Nate's also not on this self-proclaimed path to greatness so to him a loss is a loss. He doesn't like them, but he's not worried when they start piling up.

That said, I'm picking Conor. Why? For the same reason I'll pick BJ Penn, Gustafsson, Gunni, etc ... I'm a nuthugging balls-licker and can't bring myself to pick certain fights the way I think they'll go sometimes. And in this instance, it's not like I'm certain Nate wins, I just think the odds are slightly swayed in his direction, he has the momentum. I'm also picking him to finish, because even with an illogical pick, you need to pick the logical method. I think that if Conor wins, there's more of a chance it's by finish than by outclassing Nate for 25 minutes, I think by the time rounds 4 & 5 come, Nate will have too much left in the tank for Conor to outlast (I don't think Conor's breaking point is as far as some other guys is, some guys just break sooner than others, I believe Conor is one of the "sooner rather than later" guys. He's no Chael Sonnen, but he's no Matt Brown either).

* Edited at 08.17.2016, 4:59 AM ET *

I think nate is gonna take him lightly this time around and that conor is gonna work for points instead of a finish. Picking conor the first time yielded a loss, I'll hope to repeat.

I have been listening to the casual fans lately and they say it was that Conor went up in weight.  Little do they know that he is usually at 175 normally.

You are a casual fan.