Coming off a submission loss to Nate Diaz, Conor McGregor needs a victory for redemption. A loss would send him back to featherweight division seemingly with his tail between his legs.
Hunger by definition, is to have a strong desire or craving for. That feeling of hunger is what pushed McGregor to the top in the beginning. Everyone knows the story of the Irish kid from Dublin that gave up his job as plumber to chase his dream in MMA. He was hungry. His story is an inspirational tale of a man on welfare risking it all and becoming a household name. “The Notorious, Mystic Mac” cruised through the featherweight division and seen his life long dream fulfilled. McGregor seemed unstoppable. No one can say why, but when the match against lightweight division champ Rafael Dos Anjos fell through, Conor accepted a fight on short notice against bad boy and equally versed trash talker Nate Diaz.
UFC 202 The Hunger Game
At first glance, and a common thought, it was a short notice fight for Diaz. Yes, it was. However, it was a new fighter and a new weight for McGregor on short notice also. A lot of people fail to mention or forget about that. I mean what would people say if Mayweather took a fight against a heavier fighter, 25 pounds heavier? Quiet honestly, Mayweather wouldn’t. Very few fighters would.
With McGregor being the biggest name in UFC, he also had the biggest target on his back. Everyone and there brother was calling out Mystic Mac from Cowboy Cerrone to heavyweight champ Fabricio Werdum. I mean BJ Penn wanted to come out of retirement to fight the guy!
After the 13 seconds KO of champ Jose Aldo, McGregor’s confidence was at a all time high. He was on top of the food chain and just collect the biggest payday of his life. Why wouldn’t he take a fight against a bigger Nate Diaz? Diaz is tough as nails, but on paper, his 18 wins with 10 loses wasn’t to intimidating to McGregor. Did the overconfidence cost Conor the fight? Did the hype train derail his training? Was he so distracted by the money, camera flashes, replace the hunger he had when he started his journey to the top? Who can say?
Upon arriving at the MGM I had an uneasy feeling about the confidence level and lack of seriousness McGregor was showing leading up to bout. The night of the fight, I remember seeing “Mystic Mac” daze Diaz with a left hook and instead of finishing the iron jawed Nate, he stepped back dropped his hands and taunted Diaz. I yelled “stay on him!” Well I guess McGregor didn’t hear me over the other 10 thousand fans in arena. He let Diaz recover and make it out of first round.
Ding Ding, the bell calling for round two sounded. When the two gladiators answered the bell, we seen a full recovered and comfortable Nate Diaz and a half spent, slower McGregor begin to swap blows toe to toe. When McGregor shot in on Diaz for a sloppy single leg take down, I looked at my girlfriend and told her, “Conor just lost”. He changed his game plan and the rest is history.
Since the fight, McGregor has not been total recluse, but he has definitely got the hunger back. McGregor took on UCF brass and ultimately got himself pulled off what was set to be the biggest fight card in UFC history UFC 200. His excuse, he wanted to focus 100% on the rematch. He has been focused on said rematch and obsessed to recreate the exact fight, even same weight class.
Now just days away from one of the most anticipated rematches in UFC, Nate Diaz has taken the roll of face of UFC 202 and McGregor has almost become a Rocky Balboa training for rematch with Clubber Lang. Thats the hunger, thats the obsession. That is what got the 17 year old plumber turned MMA fight to the top of the fight game. No cars, no suits, no high priced shoes, the hunger. The hunger is back in McGregor’s eyes.
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