Did Nate Diaz Send Conor McGregor Into Retirement?

It’s not long now (hopefully) until we see Conor McGregor fight Nate Diaz at UFC 200. The two colorful characters first faced off at UFC 196 back in March, and it was a typical cult hero vs. theatrical villain kind of affair. McGregor had rallied ticket sales in al his previous fights using his razor sharp wit and excellent ability to break his opponents just using the power of speech. He tried his old tricks against Diaz when Rafael dos Anjos fell out from the original booking, but it turned out the Stockton grappler wasn’t going to be playing those games.

Diaz stood firm in the midst of a barrage of trash talk from McGregor in the 11 days leading up to their fight, and made the Irish star eat his words when they eventually collided in the octagon.

McGregor gassed coming in to the second round of their highly entertaining bout, and Diaz smelled ‘red panty night’ in the making. ‘The Notorious’ had thrown everything at Diaz, yet the chin was holding up just fine. Just as the Diaz brothers had predicted, McGregor shot for the takedown, and it was just over from that point on. Diaz sunk in the fight finishing rear naked choke, and suddenly the UFC’s plans had been shattered, or so it seemed.

So win or lose, surely it’s back to the featherweight division for McGregor after this fight. Of course there’s always the possibility the UFC will see cash signs in a potential lightweight title fight, but surely the circus at the top of the 145-pound category needs sorting out first. So if he indeed does go back down, but loses his title, what happens next?

In the scenario that McGregor does lose the 145-pound strap to either Jose Aldo or Frankie Edgar, who fight for the interim strap at UFC 200, he’d end up on a three fight losing skid. In a sport where you are only as good as your last performance, ‘The Notorious’ will be so far in the minus it would be unreal. But you have to consider amongst all this, Conor is no ordinary fighter, at least not in terms of marketability, or talent.

He sells tickets like no one we’ve ever seen before, and as much as people hate on him for his brazen attitude and outrageous insults, it brings much needed attention to MMA. But where’s the line between pushing your marquee PPV salesman, and dressing up a fighter on a three fight losing skid? Let’s not jump the gun though, as he obviously could get back a win over Diaz, but even then, would he ever return to featherweight?

McGregor looks way healthier at 170 pounds, but it’s clearly not his most advantageous weight category. You could argue that 155 pounds is the ideal weight class in terms of health and size combined, and obviously fighting the much smaller men of the 145-pound landscape is where his health suffers most, but he gets the most size advantage. In terms of the timeline, I don’t think the question should be ‘If McGregor loses the title,’ it should in fact include vacating the belt too.

As he gets older, and the longer he stays fighting in different weight classes, cutting o featherweight will become a lot harder, and eventually will just not be worth the health risk. So even if he does remain unbeaten at featherweight, you can bet your bottom dollar that McGregor will give up that belt and make a permanent home at 155 in the near future. Would people still pay to see McGregor hand over fist like they do now?

Of course they would

So what happened with the big announcement by McGregor yesterday? He sent out the following message on Twitter, sending the MMA world in to a frenzy:

I have decided to retire young.
Thanks for the cheese.
Catch ya’s later.

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) April 19, 2016

Ariel Helwani later strengthened McGregor’s statement, which was obviously taken with a pinch of salt, leading to a the sudden realization that the featherweight champion may just have called it quite! But why? Did Nate Diaz seriously take that much out of the Irish bad boy?

Love him or hate him, McGregor is must see TV. He’s exactly what the sport needed at a time when stars like Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, Anderson Silva and many other legends began fading. You could argue the UFC had promoted their ‘hype train,’ but that’s why they are called a promotion, that’s their job. All said and done, these very same people that hate on McGregor religiously line his pockets, taking every opportunity to watch eagerly, much like his hoards of supporters. But has he really been playing the game just to get out as soon as possible?

Conor McGregor may just have pulled off the greatest heist in MMA history, but Nate Diaz might just have forced the timing.

The belt is decoration, McGregor is a star, love him or hate him. But for how much longer?

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