In case you haven’t heard, Nate Diaz is fighting Conor McGregor in a short notice welterweight match up March 5th, at UFC 196. Oddsmakers are giving McGregor the nod as a heavy favorite, but are the oddsmakers right? Is McGregor really that good, or have the oddsmakers bought into the hype?
Nate Diaz – An Upset In The Making
Maybe I’m crazy, but I believe Diaz has the edge over McGregor in this one. First of all, let’s not confuse being out of shape with not having enough time to properly cut weight. Cutting weight is a long, arduous process. Diaz is one of the bigger lightweights on the roster, and has had trouble making the 155 pound limit on a few occasions. Diaz took this fight on 11 days notice, not enough time for him to properly prepare his body if he wasn’t already in a fight camp. Neither man will have to make much of an effort to make the 170 pound limit this Saturday, but Diaz is the naturally bigger man, and has fought at welterweight before.
He’s going to have to get on his knees and beg…
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) February 23, 2016
Dana White, last week on the LA Today radio show, said the following: “Nate Diaz has been training for a triathlon, Nate Diaz is in phenomenal shape right now. If the fight goes all five rounds, I don’t see Nate getting tired. I’ve never seen Nate get tired.”
I see a fajita. pic.twitter.com/VNfF72MNpQ
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) February 25, 2016
What about the mental aspect? McGregor has been known to get in his opponent’s heads. However, Diaz has been mentally breaking opponents since before we even knew who McGregor was. I am not worried Diaz will be broken that way. If the fight goes past the first round, Diaz will get more and more comfortable, and I see McGregor getting less and less comfortable.
If Diaz can use his phenomenal boxing, keep his range, and avoid the kicks of McGregor, then we may witness one of the greatest upsets in combat sports. I can’t wait.
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