FORMER UFC BANTAMWEIGHT title challenger Urijah Faber expects Nate Diaz to emerge victorious from Saturday night’s UFC 202 main event in Las Vegas.
Faber disagrees with the bookies’ take on the welterweight bout at the T-Mobile Arena. The odds-makers have marked Conor McGregor as a slight favourite at 4/5, with Diaz available at 11/10 (according to Ladbrokes).
Diaz submitted McGregor in March and Faber expects the same winner on this occasion, although the former WEC champion — who was McGregor’s opposing coach last year on The Ultimate Fighter — believes it’s a difficult fight to call, with McGregor very much in with a chance of settling the score.
“As far as what makes Conor so great, he’s still going to bring that to the table. He’s a heavy puncher, he’s got incredible confidence — we’ll see if that’s broken or not — and he’s an athletic guy who’s good at timing,” Faber told Submission Radio.
“The thing that makes Diaz great is that he has put in hours and hours, and years and years and years, growing as a mixed martial artist. I think Conor has done the same but not to the same level.
“He’s not as accomplished on the ground, he hasn’t gone with the wrestlers, and like Nate has been saying, he’s been boxing with guys like Andre Ward — high-level boxers who have been some of the best in the world for a long time.
“It’s not like a clear slate — Nate’s going to win or Conor’s going to win — but I think the odds are a little bit in Diaz’s favour, because he can take a punch, he has a high output — just like Conor does — and he’s got a better skillset on the ground.
“But you don’t count Conor out. You saw what he did to Aldo and what he’s done to other top-level guys, but my money’s on Nate.”
