Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

UFC 202:

Diaz vs. McGregor: The ultimate rematch that shouldn’t have been

Welterweight Nate Diaz Chokes McGregor

L.E. Baskow

Welterweight Conor McGregor taps out from a choke by opponent Nate Diaz ending their fight during UFC 196 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

UFC 196 at MGM Grand

Welterweight Nate Diaz raises his hands in victory while leaving the octagon after beating Conor McGregor during UFC 196 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday, March 5, 2016. Launch slideshow »

UFC 202 McGregor Diaz Speak

UFC fighter Conor McGregor answers a reporter's question during the announcement of fighting in UFC 202 from the T-Mobile Arena as part of Fight Week on Thursday, July 7, 2016.  . Launch slideshow »

UFC 202

• When: Saturday, Aug. 20 (main card at 7 p.m., preliminaries begin at 3:30 p.m.)

• Where: T-Mobile Arena

• Tickets: $215-$12,000, ticketmaster.com/UFC

• Pay-per-view: $49.99 SD, $59.99 HD

• Other notable fights: Anthony Johnson vs. Glover Teixeira; Rick Story vs. Donald Cerrone; Cody Garbrandt vs. Takeya Mizugaki; Tim Means vs. Sean Strickland; Neil Magny vs. Lorenz Larkin

While promoting a July 2014 fight featuring Conor McGregor in Dublin, UFC President Dana White was locked in a contract dispute with Nate Diaz, whom he notoriously noted was “not a needle mover.”

The next day, White described McGregor as a potentially iconic fighting visionary after the Irishman, at the time considered an up-and-comer, scored a first-round knockout of Diego Brandao in front of his home crowd.

McGregor reached the early pinnacle of his career less than a year later, winning an interim featherweight title by knocking out Chad Mendes. He celebrated by spending nearly half a million dollars adding to his fleet of luxury sports cars.

Diaz notched his first career milestone seven years earlier, winning the fifth season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” and the Stockton, Calif., native recently recalled barely scraping together enough money for a Honda Civic.

Before Diaz defeated McGregor five months ago, the two were separated by more than the 5,000 miles between their hometowns and 25-pound difference in weight classes. McGregor was the multimillionaire prizefighter and handpicked megastar, Diaz the middle-class brawler and eternal malcontent.

Going into their rematch Saturday in the main event of UFC 202, it’s fair to wonder how these two constitute the UFC’s biggest possible fight. That’s exactly what Diaz vs. McGregor II is, and what it wasn’t supposed to be.

There was no great demand for a rematch after Diaz definitively stopped McGregor with a submission victory — by rear-naked choke in the second round — on 11 days notice in a welterweight bout at UFC 196. The consensus was that McGregor should cut back down 25 pounds to defend his featherweight title.

But McGregor pushed for another shot at Diaz, ultimately persuading the UFC but not quite the public. The response to the fight being booked as the main event for UFC 200 measured lukewarm at best.

That was until McGregor tweeted an announcement of his retirement. The message became the most retweeted ever by an athlete, as news spread that McGregor was unwilling to partake in UFC-mandated promotional obligations.

McGregor later clarified through social media that he wasn’t walking away, but he also wasn’t going to capitulate to the UFC’s demands. The UFC responded by pulling McGregor off of a card it hoped would be the biggest ever.

That made it easy to chalk up the entire bizarre episode as a loss for McGregor. It wasn’t.

Affinity from those who loved McGregor intensified as he stayed steadfast in raging against the UFC machine. Disgust from those who loathed him increased with the perception of his entitled attitude despite coming off what should have been a humbling defeat.

McGregor, like many great fighters, leaves little room for nonpolarized opinions. Practically every fan either rooted for him to eventually get his way or receive his comeuppance from Diaz.

All the while, Diaz grew his own legend. He rejected an offer to fight someone other than McGregor, hilariously revealing plans at a UFC 200 press conference to instead go on vacation.

With his newfound wealth, Diaz had no purpose for anything except a fight that paid better than his last. And a bout with McGregor was the only thing that could bring such a payday.

Diaz sightings became rare for a while, apart from portraits of him posing in front of a mural of himself on a street in his hometown.

When the UFC officially announced Diaz vs. McGregor II in late May at a fight card in Los Angeles, the arena screens showed Diaz cageside. He flexed and mean-mugged the camera, inciting a deafening cheer from the sold-out crowd of nearly 16,000 at The Forum.

The non-needle mover was now an earsplitting presence, undergoing the transformation concurrent to McGregor becoming more complex than the UFC’s golden boy.

And now the rematch of the unlikely pair at UFC 202 is bigger than was ever conceivable.

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