When Conor McGregor (19-3 MMA) steps back in to the octagon against Nate Diaz (20-10 MMA) at UFC 202 in August, it will mark the most important fight of his career.
McGregor will be trying to avenge a second-round submission loss to Diaz which marked the first of his flawless UFC career.
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Prior to his loss to Diaz at UFC 196, Conor McGregor was undefeated in the UFC, had just knocked out the only featherweight champion in UFC history in pound for pound great Jose Aldo and was on top of the MMA world.
McGregor entered the fight with Diaz a huge betting favourite, despite moving up two weight classes from 145 pounds to the 170 pound welterweight limit where he had previously never fought inside the UFC.
The fight started well for McGregor, landing heavy punches to the larger Diaz throughout the first round and bloodying the Stockton natives face. McGregor clearly won the first round and appeared to be having fun on his way towards another spectacular knockout victory.
The second round saw more of the same for the favoured champion, landing clean left hands though the Irishman had begun to slow his pace. Diaz and his never ending gas tank began to pick his up, and started landing solid one two combinations and even his famous ‘Stockton Slap’.
Then half way through the round a perfectly timed one two hurt McGregor, and Diaz began tagging his opponent repeatedly.
This marked the first time we had seen Conor McGregor in an adverse situation inside the UFC and things only got worse from there.
Diaz poured on the pressure landing heavy combinations that had McGregor on wobbly legs, before the featherweight champion shot for a takedown out of desperation. From there it was all Diaz, with the underdog scrambling and mounting the champion, before landing some heavy ground and pound, forcing McGregor to turn and give up his back.
Diaz a Gracie Jui Jitsu black belt and submission specialist, then locked up a rear naked choke, forced McGregor to tap and shocked the world.
Conor McGregor had been able to do something few fighters have, cross over into pop culture. When McGregor announced via twitter an abrupt retirement due to a spat with the UFC brass back in April, it quickly sent the Twittersphere into meltdown and racked up a record breaking amount of re-tweets for an athlete. The notorious one has brought in fans from around the world, sold millions of pay per views and has a cult-like following in his native Ireland.
With the August 2 rematch fast approaching, the question is what if Conor McGregor loses again?
The fight will again be at the 170 pound welterweight limit and will draw massive pay per view numbers, earning millions for both fighters. Should McGregor lose again though, both of those things will decrease significantly for future fights.
His star will no longer shine bright as the world championship he still holds at featherweight and the mystique and intrigue around him will be diminished severely. McGregor’s endless trash talk will hold less and less significance and his bold pre-fight predictions will now appear more of a gimmick.
While his name value will still be more than his peers, and with interesting match-ups awaiting him back at 145 pounds should he decide to return there, the massive checks and pay per view numbers will be substantially less for the post Diaz fights.
The cross over fans with little to no interest in the sport of MMA who have been tuning in just to see if McGregor can back up his highlight reel of one line verbal knockouts, will return to watching whatever it was they watched before, and will enjoy not coughing up $50 for his pay per views every few months.
All of these things makes this fight the most important fight of his career and adds another interesting factor to the upcoming scrap at UFC 202.
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