FORMER UFC WELTERWEIGHT champion Georges St-Pierre believes Conor McGregor needs to be prepared to endure “the worst day of his life” when he takes on Nate Diaz in their rematch at UFC 202 in Las Vegas on 20 August.
St-Pierre was in attendance at the MGM Grand Garden Arena last March when Diaz submitted McGregor in the main event at UFC 196, after which McGregor blamed an empty gas tank — “I was inefficient with my energy” — for the defeat.
McGregor pursued the knockout in the first round of the bout, but Diaz was able to withstand his attacks and capitalised as the Irishman slowed down in the second frame.
“Yeah, the way I see it is McGregor and Nate Diaz are both ‘bully’ fighters, and the worst thing that can happen to a bully is when the tables get turned around and he gets bullied himself,” St-Pierre said in an interview with Bloody Elbow.
“That’s what happened to Conor McGregor, that’s why he lost that fight. Conor McGregor used to bully people and put people away in the first round because he’s such an amazing fighter, and he gets into people’s heads. But what happened was, he couldn’t put Diaz away because Diaz is very resilient.
“If I make an analogy, it’s like Conor McGregor was pacing himself for a 400-metre race. He gave everything, but at the end of this 400-metre race, now somebody was telling him, ‘I’m sorry, you’re not done yet, you have another 400 metres to do’.
“And if you didn’t pace yourself, if you go all out thinking you’re going to arrive at the finish line at 400 metres, now you have another 400 metres — you’re done.”
St-Pierre stopped short of making a prediction for the rematch, but he insisted that McGregor must be prepared to dig deep to avenge the only loss of his time in the UFC so far.
“I believe skillwise McGregor is better than Diaz,” said GSP. “But I just don’t know if he has the same mental resilience of Nate Diaz. Nate Diaz is very experienced. That was a fight that was won because of his experience.
“I do not see this fight as a set of skills: ‘Oh, because of his ground game, because of this, because of that’. Conor McGregor is very good on the ground, he swept Nate Diaz in the first fight. I see it as more of a pace and tactical match.
“If I would be [Conor McGregor's] coach, I will tell him all the time, behind closed doors, how dangerous Diaz is and how much of a war this fight will be, and how painful, and long, and uncomfortable it would be, and to get prepared for the worst day of his life.”
GSP’s interview with Bloody Elbow — in which he reiterates his intention to return to the octagon — is well worth a look. You can read it in full by clicking here.
