Issue 162

December 2017

The fight McGregor’s camp and mainstream fans want. There’s no way Diaz should be challenging for the belt over higher-ranked contenders, but you can guarantee everyone will be psyched if the trilogy fight with McGregor gets made.

Their previous two battles were among the best that year, and the third should be just as good, if not better. It will also be fascinating. We saw Diaz’s path to victory at UFC 196, then we then saw a successful McGregor strategy at UFC 202.

But we also saw extended periods of dominance by both men in the fights they lost.

The question now is what do they have to do to put a stamp on this rivalry, and definitively prove they’re the superior fighter?

Through Nate Diaz has his flaws, he’s always likely to give Conor McGregor a tough fight. It’s a great style match-up. He can roll with the punches and even take the heat ‘The Notorious’ will be throwing his way early on. He’s also the superior grappler, and can give the 155lb champ fits on the mat or up against the cage. If McGregor wins, he’ll have to dig deep.

All of those qualities helped Diaz to win fight one and took him to within a whisker of winning fight two. Hardy says he’ll need to draw on all of the above, and do better with it, to get his hand raised again.

“Diaz needs to be more aggressive with his clinch work and takedowns, or up his work rate in boxing,” he explains. “He needs to pressure Conor more, he needs

to force that cardio out of him in a fight at lightweight, instead of allowing him to burn himself out like he did at welterweight.”

Of course, there is presumably a meticulous game plan that magnifies Diaz’s strengths and exposes his rival’s weaknesses, but carefully crafting a perfect strategy is just not his style. This one is going to be another scrap – no doubt with a few Stockton slaps thrown into the mix.

THE CASE FOR MCGREGOR

No prizes for guessing McGregor’s best chance of winning is by staying on his feet. By slowing his pace down early and planning to pick Diaz apart, he should have the same kind of success he found in the rematch.

“We always talk about Nate’s boxing,” Hardy explains.

“He might have good boxing for boxing, but for mixed martial arts, it’s not good. He leaves himself open so much and he’s heavy on the front leg, which is planted on the spot for someone who’s got a good leg kick.

"Rafael dos Anjos ate him up with that front leg. If Conor can add a few more kicks to his game, he can keep him on the back foot because it’s difficult to integrate traditional boxing skills into a kickboxing fight. He opens himself to so many things in a boxing stance.”

Fighting at his ideal weight of 155lb should also help ‘The Notorious’. Not because Diaz had a significant size advantage at 170lb – lightweight is his ideal division, too – but because of the physical and mental benefits gained from streamlining his body.

“Conor wins the fight much more comfortably at lightweight,” adds Hardy. “Part of the disadvantages at welterweight were the extra pounds he was carrying. Whenever you see Conor step on the scales at feather or lightweight, you can see he’s cut weight and that he’s fired up. There’s a mentality that comes with cutting weight that wasn’t apparent when he fought Nate Diaz either time.

"There was no process in terms of getting his body down. Maybe psychologically that’s an advantage, because it sets his mind on the task at hand. I think he took Diaz lightly in the first fight.

“The extra weight he was carrying is what slowed him down. He’s more efficient, his body’s healthier and he’s faster at lightweight, and I think he’s going to be able to stuff Nate’s takedowns. The only way this fight goes to the floor is if one of them gets knocked down and the other follows, or if Conor shoots out of panic. But that lesson’s learned. I can’t see him doing that.”