NATE DIAZ INSISTS that the decision to hand Conor McGregor an opportunity to avenge his recent loss is proof that the Irish fighter enjoys preferential treatment from the UFC.
Diaz submitted McGregor at UFC 196 last month but the pair will meet again in Las Vegas on 9 July in the main event at UFC 200, a bout which was announced late on Wednesday.
Writing in his column here on The42 yesterday, John Kavanagh, McGregor’s coach, said the featherweight champion chased the rematch as he’s keen to make amends for his first professional defeat in over five years. UFC president Dana White added that McGregor is “obsessed” with the idea of facing Diaz again.
However, when asked by Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports if McGregor’s desire to secure a rematch has increased his respect for the Dubliner, Diaz gave an emphatic response.
The 30-year-old explained that he hasn’t been quite as fortunate when it comes to seeking redemption for past defeats. Diaz has lost eight times in the UFC but the only result he was given a chance to avenge was a split decision against Gray Maynard in 2010. Diaz reversed that outcome via first-round TKO nearly four years later.
“I’m sick of hearing this shit,” said Diaz. “Everybody’s talking that. Even Dana White is pushing it out there that they admire this. Yeah, 100% [McGregor] wants redemption, but guess what? I’ve been 100% on redeeming myself in every loss I’ve had. [The UFC] were like, ‘Don’t even call. You’re not getting a rematch’. It wasn’t even a consideration.
“I don’t want to hear any more praise about that [expletive] wanting a rematch. Of course he wants a rematch, which is how you should be if you get your ass whipped by anyone. If you don’t feel like that, you shouldn’t even be in this [expletive] game. Redeem himself? [Expletive] no! He’s lucky he’s getting a second chance.
“Me and a lot of other people who have lost before have never gotten that second chance. One and done. Lose a fight and you’ll never see that guy again. I wanted 10 rematches and I didn’t get those. So [expletive] no. He’s like a spoiled little kid. He should be thanking me for this [expletive] rematch.”
One rematch Diaz had been hoping to land in the aftermath of his triumph over McGregor was a shot at reigning UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, who overcame Diaz by unanimous decision in December 2014.
“Without a question [I asked for a dos Anjos rematch], but they [expletive] want to baby McGregor,” Diaz said. “They give him whatever he wants. I decided I’m not going to hold out like everyone else. I’m going to get down to business, slap this [expletive] and then be on my way and get my rematches.”
Diaz was particularly critical of the UFC in a separate interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto: “I swear to God, the UFC thinks it was an accident or something,” he said, referring to his against-the-odds win at UFC 196. “They think it was an accident, and now they’re saying, ‘Let’s get Nate back in there and take him out before he gets any bigger’.
“Since that last fight, have you heard any praise for me from Dana or the UFC? None at all. How much praise has that motherfucker [McGregor] got? I’ve never lost a fight and not wanted to fight the guy 10 minutes later.
“The UFC is pumping him up again, saying he wants to redeem himself and giving him all this credit for it. It’s like, dude, I’ve been obsessed with every fight I’ve ever lost. This is a gift for him to get it right away. He’s saying he’s obsessed? Welcome to my life, motherfucker. That’s the game, and I’ve never gotten my losses back.”
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Apart from all the expletive deleted’s he makes a good argument. But, cash cows are always treated like gold. Conor is in this position because he is the best at marketing himself.
Diaz makes very good points, but there’s also good reason for mcgregor getting a rematch: people really want to see it! Mcgregor hasn’t just beaten everyone he’s fought in the ufc. He’s gone out and knocked them out exactly as he predicted prefight. And while Diaz has been fighting top class fighters, his win-loss record and lack of a belt weren’t going to attract many casual fans to a fight that’s already happened. Bums on seats and PPV are what drives the UFC.
Mma is the sport. Ufc is the business. Simples
People want to see McGregor v Edgar. That’s the fight people want checkout any mma blog and that’s the one people want. Diaz is 100% right. Edgar said that the C in UFC stands for Conor.
I’m sure Diaz is making a nice few bob from the rematch win or lose for him. I notice he didn’t complain about that..
Maybe the ‘real’ fans in the mma forums want Edgar, but blow ins and bandwagoners like me want to make sure that Diaz beating the invincible and infallible Conor McGregor wasn’t just a fluke.
Diaz gas never seen two fights with a purse like this in his UFC career. He should be more thankful before his head hits the canvas
May Conor should have refused to fight him in the first place when he came in as a replacement
Conor is on steroids?
That’s not how true sport works though. This decision proves that UFC are more focused on money than promoting mma as a sport. Why bother with euro qualifiers in football? Let’s just stick the 24 most popular nations in. Same goes for champions league. Stick in the 32 most popular teams. It would work for me, as a Celtic fan.
The UFC is a business. They have no moral obligation to promote it as a legitimate sport. They aren’t a sporting body like FIFA or World Rugby. They are simply the most successful of a large number of businesses: pride, belator, cage warriors, one, etc etc etc
Diaz is probably pissing himself laughing behind it all really. Pretending to be irked with a rematch but smartly using every media opportunity now to air his well documented gripes with UFC brass and build up some intrigue for the fight.
He overuses the word [expletive]
I love that they keep using [expletive] in the article to censor Diaz then leave the word mother****er in the second last line. It’s not exactly a term of endearment.
It’s like the word “redacted” on other stories in the Journal….
In fairness, he’s right. It’s pretty funny how he was supposed to be the proverbial sacrificial lamb and completely messed up the brass’ plans. Was hilarious when he talked about that on Sonnen’s podcast.
It’s ridiculous Conor is even getting this fight. Don’t think there’s ever been an interim fight on the same card as the champion fighting. He should clear out the division (as he said he would) then move up and get his rematch with Nate at 155.
The press conferences will be brilliant because of just talking shit against his opponent he’ll be talking shit about Aldo and Edgar too.
Could have always said no. Nobody is forcing him to fight Conor. Don’t feel he deserves it? Don’t let him have it
True, but if he doesn’t fight he doesn’t earn and if he says no then he loses all bargaining for a fight that he himself really wants. It’s all part of the game of negotiation.
No fighter in his situation is gonna turn up a chance to fight at UFC 200 (or against the cash cow that is McGregor) just to get one over on the UFC
It’s not about the money apparently, remember?
What’s he bitching about, another big payday for his dumbass
It’s not all about money with everyone
Don’t let McGregors tacky behaviour fool you into thinking some of these guys are all like him
What McGregor always fails to realise is that if you become the greatest/the undisputed champion etc etc in your sport you will get financial rewards. The champ makes the money that’s the way it also is and always has been.
You don’t need to humiliate and sneer at your fellow professionals in order to make yourself feel superior.
The true champions don’t need to tell people they are the best, everyone already knows it
Tell that to dos anjos.
RDA will eat McGregor for breakfast! Not gonna happen though, it’ll be another Diaz win and then it’s back to 145 to fight either Edgar or Aldo. I can’t see Edgar losing to McG and Aldo would surely go in with a much better game plan
@Apu Like Ali was humble ?
Exactly Paul. Every champion in any fighting discipline was a cocky so and so. Apu hadn’t got a clue.
Not true.
Nadeem Hammad was a very humble and understated champ.
Water charges, Garth Brooks, Connor Mc Gregor = Things that got way too many column inches.
He’s got a point but a mc gregor rematch will generate huge revenue once again for all
Exactly. I’m sure he won’t be complaining when the checks are handed over. Although, he does make some fair points.
McGregor’s aura has gone since his defeat
He never had a aura in the first place.
an*
Don’t even know what to make of these delusions.
Trash talking and backing it up has been shown to be the clearest route to high earrings in the UFC. The Diaz brothers started the ball rolling in 2003 but never really capitalised on it because I believe they’re natural trash talkers and it wasn’t a deliberate marketing decision to sell fights. Chael Sonnen was the master (look at the number of major fight he talked himself into) until McGregor came along. It all goes back to Muhammad Ali who got the idea form watching Pro-Wrestling shows and decided to carry it over into boxing.
He was on FOXUFC last week saying belts mean nothing, they’re a fairytale ect, I want the biggest money fights going he said, now he gets ANOTHER Big money re-match & he’s playing the victim again. Which begs the question ? Does he even know what he wants ?
http://youtu.be/DwnKjHX89vk
I totally agree with Nate.it totally smacks of favouritism. Imagine if McGregor gets beaten again, what is Dana White going to do then, and yes its true, McGregor is box office and entertaining, but it could change everything for him.I think its far too early for a rematch.Pride! Hmm.
They really say the most hurtful things…
If he resents McG getting a quick chanceat redemption,why didn’t he say no to rematch,you cant sell your soul for the cash and then bitch about McG getting preferential treatment
He’s spot on but he’ll still take the cheque and another W.
A second loss for Conor against Diaz may calm things down. T’s ironic that Conor talked a whole load of trash about Aldo not fighting before he became interim champion and now we have a situation where Aldo and Edgar are fighting for the UFC’s second Featherweight Interim belt in a year. Champions defend their titles, not go on weight class safari. As far as I’m concerned Conor has no interest in fighting in the featherweight division again. If he loses to Diaz I wonder will the Dos Anjos title fight in Lightweight still be handed to him?! I would hope not. Any title won by any other means than beating the top 5 will be tainted. I doubt however this is in Conor’s or Dana’s head.
Conor will take the biggest fight going. You’re dead right in saying he has no interest defending his belt presently, but bet your life he will if Edgar beats Jose and sets the hype for Conor’s first title defence. He has said many a time he is in it to make his money and get out, hence the reason the Diaz rematch might not make sense for a sports fans view but it does from a businessman’s, as will Conor’s first title defense against whoever it may be.
His gone from 20 20 … To getting millions of dollars to fight a guy he already beat and his complaining. Strange logic
Not everything is about the money (contrary to what McGregor thinks).
Diaz is full of rubbish as well. He wants this fight as much as McGregor. This will be his biggest payday ever. He’ll get more exposure the second time round and this will give for his profile. If he wins again it’ll open more doors for him in the ufc, possible a title fight even. Diaz knows all this so he should just shut up with the moaning.
Ha ha if he wins! Won pretty comfortably on 11 days notice. You’ve seen me on salads now watch me on steaks (got choked out by a vegan)
@See, that made me chuckle. I am watching mma for over 20 years, and I used to like McGregor but now am happy to see him lose.. The way he gets what he wants is shameful and unfair to other fighters.. Yes its a business and we all understand that and McGregor draws the viewers.. I hope he gets tapped out again and Diaz gets a title shot
The loss actually made me like McGregor. He held his hands up and took it like a champ. The only person that didn’t make excuses for Conor losing was Conor. I’m taking nothing from McGregor, I firmly believe it’s Dana that is protecting him and his title. If Cain Velasquez looked for a fight I’d say Conor would start warming up! As far as I’m concerned this is all about Dana and his viewer numbers.
Mcgregor will be beaten again,he may have gassed,but his jaw cant take diaz punches and you cant train your jaw
No but you can train your body to avoid the punches. When Cruz fought TJ it was all about TJs power. Cruz simply said you can’t hit me so your power won’t matter. And that’s exactly what happened. Now I know McG is no Dominic Cruz but he does has exceptional footwork.
I hope Diaz embarrasses him again. Expletive loser.
Diaz is talking out his hoop. Didn’t get the rematches he wanted? So? When he has a record to match 19-2. When he knocks ppl dead in round 1 as predicted. When he brings ppv buys. Then, and only then can he demand that stuff.
McGregor will never have a 19-2 record either to be fair….
Wonder how much he’s getting for this fight. Should be get as much as Conor if he’s shrewd enough..
Oh he should absolutely demand equal show money with the winner to get a bonus.
He’s 100% spot on ! If anyone deserved a rematch it was Aldo against mcgregor
[Expletive] [Expletive] [Expletive] [Expletive] motherf&@ker (third line 2nd last paragraph)
Odd, I know, but that’s down to the fact that there are two different sources for the quotes in this piece. One is Yahoo (who censor swear words), the other is ESPN (who don’t).
McGregor was pre occupied with the hype surrounding him’ People blowing smoke up his ass he began to believe he was actually unbeatable and just had to turn up @ UFC 196.Hopefully he’s back down to earth realises he’s not invincible respects his opponent and proves to be the real champion we all want him to be.
He’s gonna Di on his az again.
Hope McGregor destroys that expletive motherexpletive.
Dodgy for mcgregor….if he looses again it’s all over for him!….ego can be a dangerous thing…
Wonder how many more articles Paul can get out of a fight card announcement that’s in July.
Hard to know at this early stage, Ben, but I’ll take a guess and say it’ll probably be proportional to the amount of interest readers have.
Ben Frost, why not have Paul come to your place of work and point out how he feels you should do things?
sure you will always get tons of people commenting that know nothing about mma, fighting of any form and just jump on the bandwagon about McGregor.. He was very average in that fight.. He gassed out, against a better boxer he would have got hurt.. His kicks were weak, slow and shoddy. His ground was non existent. RDA would hand him his ass and I hope he gets that fight and loses there as well. So I expect we will see plenty more articles about him until that happens.
Valid points indeed.
It’s all money. Money talks. McGregor generates it for the UFC much more than Diaz. UFC is a business.
One which pays out very little to their athletes in comparison to other sports
McGregor is mad to do this, he will lose again. Talking about being efficient with his energy after one round is not becoming of a pro world champion. He should not be worried about efficiencies at that level. Fair enough he put on too much weight too quickly (which really raises concerns around doping) and with a full camp he might be fit to fight 5 rounds. I like McGregor but for me he was found out in that last fight
Absolute nonsense from Diaz, he’s getting paid, end of… The drama before fights is gettin a bit ott, you could see the frustration in McGregors face days before the first fight… Dana White is the puppet master… I guarantee McGregor will be a lot more focused on what he needs to do than calling Diaz a gazelle and threatening to beat up his whole crew…. Reporters were playing them off each other and laughing at them…
Pity Aldo didn’t get a remach so quickly!!
Diaz will destroy him with a full training camp!
If anyone, Holy Holm deserve’s a re-match. She won ALL 5 rounds IMO. Conor(as much as I’m a fan) needs to take defeat against a good fighter. Nate does deserve respect but he is not as articulate as Conor, hence the UFC will just push him aside.
Them diaz brothers deserve nothing when fans approach them they treat them as if they just took a dump on there head whereas conor embraces the support from his fans especially the Irish and even took time to visit a guy who always puts up cardboard cutout of him and turns his lights green when conor fights true gent is what I see. Is it any wonder conor is more popular and gets what he asks for he deserves it and deserves respect especially from people here on an Irish website yous talking bs about him make me sick and so ashamed of being Irish you’d wanna take a look at yourselfs and what you’ve done to promote our great country abroad my guess is not a whole lot.
You would have to agree with Nate that Conor should not get a rematch so soon.He should defend his title instead of taking on a dead rubber fight,it’s not fair on the lads in the 145 division.I must say I admire Conor taking the fight at 170 because if he loses it will probably damage his profile.
ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzz …
I’m a big fan of Conor, but I agree with what Nate has to say. I’ve always liked Nate but unfortunately he isn’t articulate enough or hasn’t the ability to market himself the way Conor can. I’m getting very fed up with the way the UFC are handeling things. Aldo deserved a rematch after losing the belt. He didn’t get one. Yes he was offered the fight walfter Dos Anjos got injured, but he should have been offered the rematch with a full camp. It makes sense to ouch Conor as the cash cow, but not to the detrimental effect of the integrity or the organization. They need to consider the impact these decisions are having on the other fighters and the future of the organization.