Conor McGregor: I’m Perfect, Nate Diaz Is Like Homer Simpson
The rivalry between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz will continue seven days from now at UFC 202. After seeing a short but eventful feud before UFC 196, Diaz got his hand raised on March 5. Submitting McGregor in the second round of a highly entertaining welterweight tilt, the Stockton bad boy turned the MMA world on its head. UFC 202 is about revenge for ‘The Notorious,’ as the defeat to Diaz was his first under the UFC banner.
While these two fierce rivals take another swing for the fences, Jose Aldo keeps he featherweight division warm. ”’Scarface’ defeated Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 for the interim title and UFC president Dana White said McGregor is indeed going back to 145 pounds after the Diaz rematch. Obviously White said that following the first fight, and a victory for the Irishman on August 20 would almost certainly set up a trilogy fight.
Confidence
The loss to the Cesar Gracie black belt hasn’t exactly got McGregor visibly shook for the rematch. Many felt he’d be much more quiet in the lead up to their second dance, if anything its been the exact opposite. Speaking yesterday during a media scrum, ‘The Notorious’ had plenty to say with one week left to go.
Why he wanted the rematch at welterweight…
“”(Nate Diaz) is more than a welterweight now, he’s about 200 pounds, he’s been enjoying himself. I wanted the fight at welterweight otherwise it would have defeated the purpose of what this is all about. I feel I was in control of the fight, I was slapping the head off him. Let’s be real here, I wanted to keep it as is, I wanted to change my camp in preparation for the larger man.”
Loads of questions surrounding Conor McGregor’s preparations for Nate Diaz were raised recently. Ever since the rematch was booked, we’ve all been curious about this topic. The Irish star reiterates that keeping to a schedule has been of paramount importance.
On changes in camp…
“We were just coming in and training whenever suited us, thinking ‘if we hit them they’ll fall.’ I feel structure is the key to true success. If you want to make it to the next level, the billions, you must have a structure in place. We were just winging in before, to a certain extent that works. We have set training times, set schedules and stuck to it. I’ve responded to it really well. This time we’ve had our set days and our rest days.”
“I would not have this anxiety to feel like I needed to train again. Everything was structured. You can’t be in the gym for 8-10 hours a day half-training, that’s not beneficial to what we are doing. These are changes we’ve implemented. It could no have gone better for me, I’m underweight, I’m perfect, he now has a lot of weight to cut and weigh-ins are creeping up.”
Back to featherweight?
Many fans and fellow fighters were up in arms when the second fight was announced. It’s been nine months now since McGregor won the featherweight title, and only yesterday the future of the 145-pound title was addressed. Contrary to what Dana White said, McGregor has his own take:
On Dana White’s comments about going back to featherweight after UFC 202…
“Yeah, I read those comments, we’ll see. There’s lot left to do, I’m going to face this man, do what I know I can do and put him away, and then we’ll talk. We’ll see.”
On Nate Diaz having a full camp…
“He said all this stuff about him not having a full camp for me, so let’s see what a full camp has done for him. I believe I am the better, faster and more skilled fighter. He’s durable, tough and bigger. That’s it, let’s see what the full camp has done. He spoke a big game about it, let’s see.”
Homer Simpson
“I’m up here looking to fight a man who has a win on me, and has 30 pounds on me. Look around the fight game, nobody is f*cking doing that. Nobody.”
“You ever see that episode of The Simpsons, where Homer is just getting the head just slapped off him? That’s the way Nate was in that fight, then he just pushes the guy when he’s tired and he falls over. He’s going to just take the shots this time, only difference is I’m still going to be there later on just pummeling his face.”
