Pics: Is Nate Diaz Truly In Shape Like Dana White Said?

When popular lightweight Nate Diaz filled in on short notice for champion Rafael dos Anjos to take on Conor McGregor in the main event of March 5’s UFC 196 from Las Vegas, many wondered just how in shape Diaz would be, and that was only amplified when news arrived that the bout would take place at welterweight.

But last night, UFC President Dana White spoke up in an effort to seemingly quell those questions, stating that Diaz was training for a triathlon and is in phenomenal shape. Both Diaz and his brother Nick are well known for competing in the grueling contests, and their cardio is no doubt a valuable asset in the Octagon as a result.

Whether or not it has Diaz in truly fight ready shape for a bout against one of the world’s top fighters remains to be seen, however. McGregor famously called him ‘the skinniest fat guy he’s ever seen’ at the UFC 196 press conference this week, and based on what we’ve seen from the younger Diaz before, we’ll just have to wait to find out if the Irishman’s trash talk holds any weight.

An Instagram post from triathlete Damian Gonzalez surfaced with Diaz posing shirtless. Take a look and judge for yourself if you think Diaz is in the shape required to top McGregor:

Yup, we are always in shape. Diaz vs Mcgregor see u in #Vegas #ufc #diazvsmcgregor #mma #bjj #track #mtb #209 #natediaz #ufc196

A photo posted by Damian Gonzalez (@damianxp209) on Feb 25, 2016 at 7:29pm PST

Based on what we’ve seen from Diaz recently, it may appear that he’s not in the best shape on short notice. He famously returned to the cage in top shape last December, when he beat top contender Michael Johnson handily in an impressive unanimous decision.

Here is what he looked like in one of his best all-around performances:

By comparison, here’s what he looked like in one of his worst, a dominant decision loss to dos Anjos in late 2014 in his fight right before the win over Johnson. Diaz badly missed weight before the affair and claimed an injury kept him from training correctly:

Those are two completely different versions of Diaz, obviously, and the current one is probably somewhere in between the ripped machine we saw lay waste to ‘Menace’ and the flabby discontent who was wholly dominated by dos Anjos.

But with McGregor looking huge and ready with a full fight camp behind him, anything but the best physical condition might not suffice for this pivotal bout.

We’ll find out when he steps into the Octagon to face McGregor at the MGM Grand Garden Arena a week from this Saturday.