– Niall Kelly reports from the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas
CONOR MCGREGOR VOWED to learn from his shock defeat to Nate Diaz and come back as a better fighter.
McGregor tapped out to a Diaz rear naked choke in the second round of Saturday night’s UFC 196 main event, his first defeat since joining the UFC.
After shipping a lot of punches in the first round, a bloodied Diaz rocked McGregor with a big left midway through the second and capitalised on the momentum shift to seal the biggest win of his career.
The fight was McGregor’s first at welterweight, 25lbs higher than featherweight class where he remains the world champion, and the Dubliner said afterwards that his “inefficiency” had cost him dearly.
He kept his composure. He went into almost autopilot mode with the shots, his face was bust up, and I went into panic mode. There was a shift of energy and he capitalised on it.
“I think with a bit of an adjustment and recognition that it must take more than one shot, more than two shots, more than three shots to put the heavier man away, I think if I go in with that mindset at a heavier weight I will do fine again.”
Advertisement
McGregor, who hadn’t been beaten since tapping out against Joe Duffy in November 2010, described the final moments of the fight from his perspective.
“In the second round, I pulled and came into my left hand and he just popped a little left straight in there and it caught me off balance.
I feel it was simply that he was efficient with his energy and that I was inefficient.
“I shot and he wrapped up the neck. I looked to pass guard but he had that high-elbow guillotine so I was forced to roll to my back. Similiar to the Chad Mendes one where I rolled and came back to my knees, but I just hadn’t got it in me.
“I ended up on bottom, he passed the mount really quickly, really smoothly, landed some shots, got me to turn. When I turned he flattened me pretty quickly as well and then sunk the choke.
There’s many lessons to be learned from the fight but I’m happy with it. I’ll learn, I’ll grow and I’ll come back.
Diaz, who took the fight on 11 days’ notice as a replacement for lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, blamed the short training camp for his slow start to the fight.
His shock win now puts him firmly back in the conversation for the next shot at dos Anjos when the Brazilian returns from his foot injury.
“I felt like I was going to have a slow start,” Diaz explained.
“I didn’t have a camp so I’d start slow, warm up, pick up as I go.
“I didn’t have any sparring so I think I should have dodged that punch a little better.
It reminded me of when I fought Kurt Pellegrino (in 2008). My corner jumped in and they were yelling, and I was like, ‘Hold up, I’m warmed up now.’
“I figured it would probably go something like that with a little less damage.”
McGregor landed a succession of big left hands, cutting Diaz on his right eye, but the Stockton brawler was able to weather the storm before seizing his own opportunity.
Diaz said: “I’ve been hit with everything, the hardest stuff by 168lbs fighters, I spar with heavyweight fighters and I’ve been hit with everything.
“He punches hard. He’s a hard-hitting little guy but nothing that I’ve never felt before.
I expect if I get hit by anybody it’s going to be hard but if you ain’t taking me out, you’re getting taken out, straight up.
The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!
'He kept his composure and I went into panic mode' - McGregor pinpoints why he lost
– Niall Kelly reports from the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas
CONOR MCGREGOR VOWED to learn from his shock defeat to Nate Diaz and come back as a better fighter.
McGregor tapped out to a Diaz rear naked choke in the second round of Saturday night’s UFC 196 main event, his first defeat since joining the UFC.
After shipping a lot of punches in the first round, a bloodied Diaz rocked McGregor with a big left midway through the second and capitalised on the momentum shift to seal the biggest win of his career.
The fight was McGregor’s first at welterweight, 25lbs higher than featherweight class where he remains the world champion, and the Dubliner said afterwards that his “inefficiency” had cost him dearly.
“I think with a bit of an adjustment and recognition that it must take more than one shot, more than two shots, more than three shots to put the heavier man away, I think if I go in with that mindset at a heavier weight I will do fine again.”
McGregor, who hadn’t been beaten since tapping out against Joe Duffy in November 2010, described the final moments of the fight from his perspective.
“In the second round, I pulled and came into my left hand and he just popped a little left straight in there and it caught me off balance.
“I shot and he wrapped up the neck. I looked to pass guard but he had that high-elbow guillotine so I was forced to roll to my back. Similiar to the Chad Mendes one where I rolled and came back to my knees, but I just hadn’t got it in me.
“I ended up on bottom, he passed the mount really quickly, really smoothly, landed some shots, got me to turn. When I turned he flattened me pretty quickly as well and then sunk the choke.
Diaz, who took the fight on 11 days’ notice as a replacement for lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, blamed the short training camp for his slow start to the fight.
His shock win now puts him firmly back in the conversation for the next shot at dos Anjos when the Brazilian returns from his foot injury.
“I felt like I was going to have a slow start,” Diaz explained.
“I didn’t have a camp so I’d start slow, warm up, pick up as I go.
“I didn’t have any sparring so I think I should have dodged that punch a little better.
“I figured it would probably go something like that with a little less damage.”
McGregor landed a succession of big left hands, cutting Diaz on his right eye, but the Stockton brawler was able to weather the storm before seizing his own opportunity.
Diaz said: “I’ve been hit with everything, the hardest stuff by 168lbs fighters, I spar with heavyweight fighters and I’ve been hit with everything.
“He punches hard. He’s a hard-hitting little guy but nothing that I’ve never felt before.
The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!
What now? Beaten McGregor says next fight will be featherweight title defence
In pics: Nate Diaz chokes the last breath from Conor McGregor’s reign of dominance
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Conor McGregor Nate Diaz Post-mortem UFC UFC 196