The highly anticipated rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz at UFC 202 has been called an 'instant classic' by a myriad of Mixed Martial Arts publications. Some say that McGregor's victory proves that he is indeed the greatest fighter on the planet. Some say Diaz deserved to get the nod on the judges scorecards.
Some even say that the fight pales in comparison to the article I wrote about it, and that - in all seriousness - it was genuinely an anti-climax because I'd done such a bloody good job of hyping it up.
Shut up, some people said that, get over it.
Advert
Regardless of your views on the five round war that took place in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 20th, one thing is for sure: "it aint over motherhubbard"*
*I'm trying to fashion myself a cool catchphrase like Nate Diaz's "I'm not surprised Motherfuckers" or his older brother Nick's "Don't be scared, homie".
I will be inserting potential catchphrases seamlessly into the article to see if any of them catch on.
The only way that this particular chapter in MMA history could have been closed forever would have been if Diaz beat McGregor again. I had McGregor winning, but didn't think in a million years that the bout would go the distance. I even predicted his post fight exclamation about being "back".
The big money fight now is a third encounter, and depending on McGregor's recovery from Saturday's win, the most logical - and biggest - stage for that trilogy fight would be the UFC's debut at Madison Square Garden in November.
It'll be the biggest card in UFC history and McGregor/Diaz is the hottest rivalry anywhere right now. Diaz has claimed he's "not doing shit" until the rubber match with McGregor, but if McGregor has his way; I think Diaz will be waiting a while. But Waitin' aint Payin' no bills, Phil.
Advert
McGregor had been the one who was pushing for the initial rematch with Diaz; he completely obsessed about it and was desperate to right the wrongs from their first fight but now he's won the most recent encounter and even though they are tied with one victory each, it is as if McGregor has won the whole rivalry.
He went up two weight classes and defeated a much bigger, heavier, more experienced fighter in bloody, dramatic fashion.
As the smoke settles, there are a few questions still left unanswered.
Will McGregor EVER defend his Featherweight Championship?
Advert
UFC CEO Dana White has said that if McGregor's next fight isn't a defence of his Featherweight Title then he is being stripped of the belt. McGregor hasn't defended said title since he defeated Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds back in December of last year, instead opting to leave the entire 145lb division in limbo while he avenged his loss to Diaz at 170lbs.
That's Barmy, Guv'nor! I don't think McGregor will fight at Featherweight again; if you've ever seen him weighing in and hitting the 145lb limit, you can't help but notice how emaciated he looks, not to mention the fact that he hasn't had to make the gruelling featherweight cut since December, so his body won't be used to it.
Add to that the fact that he has run through every top contender in that bracket, and it seems unlikely he'll be able to or willing to take another fight at that weight. Lightweight would be a much more logical and fitting weightclass for McGregor. We've seen him at welterweight and he's too small. Diaz dwarfed him and the Stockton native is a natural lightweight.
If McGregor had to come up against someone like Rory McDonald or Dong Hyun Kim, who threw Diaz around like a rag doll in welterweight fights, then it would no doubt be a bad evening for the Notorious one.
Advert
McGregor knows that lightweight is the division for him, he also knows that he stands a good chance of beating current champ Eddie Alvarez, whose UFC career so far has been anything but impressive bar his first round knockout of Rafael dos Anjos to win the 155lb strap.
McGregor wants to be the first fighter in UFC history to hold two belts in different weight classes at the same time. The only way to do that: fight for the Lightweight Championship next, with the promise of eventually defending the Featherweight belt. Then, if he's successful in beating Alvarez, he holds both belts, goes down forever in history as the first man to do so.
Anderson Silva couldn't win two UFC world titles, Georges St-Pierre; not even close, but McGregor can do it. Then he'll vacate the Featherweight title. Now that's historical, Professor McGonagall.
Will Diaz and McGregor ever meet for a third and final time?
Advert
As I've said; McGregor won't be pushing for the rubber match; he's currently on top in the rivalry, he has his momentum back. Plus, his victory over Diaz was a lot harder work than he - and a lot of people - expected.
Diaz simply couldn't be put away, he's a tough, durable guy, and McGregor won't want to put himself through all of that again, when the results could easily go the other way. It's the big money fight that is always in the locker. Always there lurking.
If McGregor vacates his title and wins the lightweight belt, then the rubber match - which McGregor said he wants to be fought at lightweight anyway - would make so much sense.
On the flip side: if McGregor vacated his belt and was unsuccessful in capturing the lightweight gold - which, if it was around the waist of Khabib Nurmagomedov at the time, I'm pretty certain he would be - then the Diaz rubber match would be the only logical way for him to go. It's a colossal pay-day for a rainy-day. The hype around a third matchup will never go away.
What's next for Diaz if it's not McGregor?
A contenders fight at Lightweight against the aforementioned Nurmagomedov would make sense. If Diaz won, he'd be in line for a title shot, then if McGregor became champ shortly afterwards it would set up the final confrontation between the two perfectly, this time with the added importance of gold being on the line to boot.
Alternatively, if McGregor does end up going back down to featherweight for a unification match with Aldo, and Diaz got himself into a title bout against current champ Alvarez - a fight which Diaz wins, in my opinion - then McGregor rises as the first challenger and the fight happens under those circumstances.
The problem here is that Diaz won't want to risk losing to someone like the undefeated Nurmagomedov or the ultra tough Tony Ferguson, he'll know that a loss to one of the top contenders hurts his chance of the McGregor fight.
While McGregor has Diaz in his rearview and will no doubt be looking at cementing his spot in MMA history, Diaz is now the one hungry for redemption, and nothing, other than the final fight against McGregor will be good enough for him. He's taken long breaks between fights before, and he'll no doubt do the same on this occasion. Take a Break: Make a Cake.
Until this is resolved, there are UFC cards-a-plenty to keep us occupied. In fact the promotion are holding events over the next 8 consecutive weeks! This includes trips to Canada, Germany, Brazil, The Philippines and a return to the UK when Middleweight champ Michael Bisping defends his title on home soil against the man that made him an internet phenomenon with THAT knockout over seven years ago; Dan Henderson.
First up however is this Saturday's UFC on Fox Card from Vancouver, British Columbia, in which top Welterweight contenders "The Natural Born Killer" Carlos Condit and Demian Maia lock horns.
Both Condit and Maia are particular favourites of mine... for very different reasons. I've always been a fan of Condit's extremely violent fights, and the finish rate of his career victories is testament to that. In complete contrast, I'm a big admirer of Maia's humble, understated ways and skill set.
Watching him quietly employing his world class BJJ is a genuine thing of beauty. However, my pick for this headlining fight is Condit. I think Maia may have success taking Condit down in the early stages, but as the fight goes on, I think Carlos (I just call him Carlos) will wear Maia down in exchanges and inevitably catch him with something - the way Carlos Condit does - whether it be a rogue knee or a counter left, and he'll win via KO/TKO in the late rounds.
The rest of the card is stacked, and sees former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis potentially fighting for his place on the UFC roster when he makes his featherweight debut against Charles Olivera.
Pettis has suffered a huge fall from grace since sitting atop the UFC's lightweight division, losing his last three fights in a row. He now boasts an underwhelming 5-4 record in the promotion and a loss to Olivera, who's been on the cusp of featherweight title contention on a few occasions, could spell disaster for 'Showtime'.
I think Pettis will prevail however. It will certainly be a back-and-forth contest that either fighter could take, but I think Pettis will get the nod on the judges scorecards as his innovative striking offence will prove too much for Olivera.
Strawweight Paige VanZant makes her first appearance in the Octagon since being outclassed and finished for the first time in her pro career by Rose Namajunas at the end of last year. VanZant will be looking to rebound against Aussie fighter Bec Rawlings.
The loss to Namajunas slammed the breaks on the VanZant hype-train, and prompted a successful spell on Dancing with the Stars... not that I watched it. I mean, I may have seen a little bit on YouTube, like, as a joke... and accidentally downloaded a few episodes online and then watched them ironically, but that's it... OK, I watched all of it and loved it.
Rawlings is a tough test, but I think VanZant eeks out a decision win, as before the Namanjunas fight, VanZant was improving in every Octagon outing and looked to be living up to the hype. And too much hype: just aint right. There, found it.
Finally, in what has Fight of the Night written all over it; lightweight stalwarts Jim Miller and Joe Lauzon will go to war in a rematch of their UFC 155 matchup from 2012, in which Miller took a unanimous decision in a - you guessed it - Fight of the Night awarded bout.
This time however, I'm predicting a Lauzon win. I think that Miller has been on a steady and noticeable decline over the last few years, and while Lauzon's MMA Record is as patchy as Patch Adams wearing an eye-patch in a cabbage-patch, I think Lauzon has remained consistent, becoming the first person to finish notoriously durable Diego Sanchez (loss to BJ Penn via 'Cut' excluded) in Sanchez's 35 fight, 14 year career. I'm going for Lauzon by decision, possibly even late stoppage.
All in all, McGregor and Diaz shouldn't be our only concern and focus as there's a lot more happening in the Ultimate Fighting Championship than the rivalry between two water bottle throwing millionaires.
Yes, we are glad that it's not over. Myself in particular, as I never know how to end things... this article for instance, I'm really not sure how to finish it and will probably end up making some strange, irrelevant reference that I will hope makes readers snigger slightly and forget for a moment that the ending of the article bares no relevance to the rest of the content.
But for now, we have a lot to be thankful for. Like Shakira said "I'm lucky that my breasts are small and humble, so you don't confuse them with mountains". I think that's something we can all relate to.
Words by: Tom Holmes
Featured Image Credit: