The UFC Featherweight champion Conor McGregor seemed pretty focused on extracting vengeance on the man who gave him his sole loss in the UFC when interviewed recently by ESPN, putting all of the nonsensical distractions to rest. The "notorious" one gave a detailed explaination as to why he wants a rematch with Nate Diaz, who campaigns at lightweight, at the welterweight limit. Their first fight at UFC 196, arranged on short notice was at 170 pounds after McGregor’s scheduled opponent, Rafael dos Anjos, was sidelined with an injury two weeks prior to the fight. McGregor’s decision to face Diaz at 170 pounds proved to be disastrous as Diaz, having the bigger size advantage absorbed McGregor’s punching power thereby nullifying his much renowned striking ability. He wore Conner down in the second round to secure a submission victory via a rear-naked choke. Its no secret that Conor likes to move a lot and control the fight. However the extra size he gained proved to be a thorn and affected his conditioning. After dominating the first round in the standup he was visibly gassed out later on. Diaz took full advantage of the situation, pounced on his winded prey and finished him off. The rematch was supposed to take place at UFC 200 but was scratched off the card after McGregor was unwilling to fullfil the media obligations related to the fight. However McGregor is determined to get the match booked under the same circumstances. "What kind of fighter would I be, if I said, 'Hey, I didn't get you at 170, let me try to get you at 155,'" McGregor said. "I'll make my adjustments. I ate up to the weight. This time, I won't do that." "The first eight minutes of the fight was easy. Let's be honest, I slapped the head off him. Once the gas tank went, that was it. I drowned. He landed that one punch that rang the bell and went, '[Gasp] I'm back.' He was close to being done. One or two more shots and he would have been wrapped up.” The Irishman's words certainly have some degree of legitimacy as he bloodied Diaz with an array of power strikes throughout the first round. Looking back, the 27-year-old says his fight-week preparations may have done him more harm than helping but he’s certain that his training this time around will bear a different result. This is one rematch MMA fans around the globe are anxiously waiting to see and their prayers just might be answered soon only however, if Conor doesn't switch to boxing first (pun intended). author
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