Conor McGregor: I Dominated The Grappling With Diaz Until My Tank Was Gone
When looking at what went wrong for Conor McGregor in his first fight with Nate Diaz at March 5, 2016’s UFC 196, many would likely agree that he had a significant disadvantage in the grappling department and that he gassed as the fight went on which led to him being submitted in the second round of their main event bout. With that being said, it’s no surprise that McGregor has been working diligently on his jiu-jitsu and his conditioning ahead of his highly-anticipated rematch with Diaz set for this Saturday’s (August 20, 2016) UFC 202 from Las Vegas, Nevada. What is surprising, however, is that the “Notorious” one feels as if he ‘dominated’ the grappling exchanges with Diaz up until he ate a left hand and his gas tank depleted:
“There’s no questioning he’s a skilled fighter, but I feel that in all of the grappling exchanges up until after that left hand landed and my tank just emptied, I won all the grappling exchanges,” McGregor said. “He caught that kick, took me down. I swept him, controlled him on top. All the situations against the fence, he was reversed. I felt I dominated every grappling exchange up until his left hand landed and my tank was gone.” McGregor said on last night’s (August 17, 2016) edition of UFC Tonight.
Despite the bad blood between the two, McGregor noted Diaz’s ‘high level’ skillset, but once again admitted that he’s ‘confident’ in his jiu-jitsu heading into UFC 202’s headliner:
“”But make no mistake, there was skill involved in that positioning to mount and the guillotine in the shot,” McGregor said of Diaz’ reversal. “”There was high-level stuff going on in there, but I’m confident in my jiu-jitsu as well.””
McGregor has brought in world class grappling guru Dillon Danis in preparation for the rematch with Diaz, but will that be enough to take out the Stockton Bad Boy?
