Since Rafael dos Anjos, and his lightweight title, are out of UFC 196 and it will be battle-tested Nate Diaz stepping in at the last minute to square off against featherweight champion Conor McGregor. With word of the new match-up spreading like wildfire, hundreds of excited fans wrapped around themselves around the UFC Gym in Torrance, CA on Wednesday to hear McGregor and Diaz for the first time together at the official press conference. The new brawl, fought two weight classes above McGregor’s usual fighting weight, was likely to accommodate for Diaz’s last minute addition, but to hear him tell it the change is of no consequence and he will be prepared. Despite the opponent change the new fight will remain at the headlining spot with Holly Holm vs. Miesha Tate as the co-feature.
On paper Diaz is something like a hero, at least to the UFC and fans that want to see McGregor in the ring. During the press conference McGregor said Diaz was the only viable opponent that answered the call and accepted without hesitation. Already in shape, Diaz revealed during questioning that the only had one real stipulation he had for accepting the bout was a healthy payday and now with the fight now full steam ahead, it appears that Team Diaz did in fact successfully negotiate a substantial purse and McGregor gets to entertainment his friends, fans and sponsors. Although specific terms haven’t been disclosed, when Diaz was asked what he would splurge on after the fight he quipped, “A lot of nice sh*t.”
With zero love loss between the two of them, the hour-long press conference was a cornucopia of trash talk, steroid allegations, f-Bombs and cheers from the raucous, largely pro-McGregor crowd. As pre-fight banter volleyed back and forth, McGregor made light of his superior earning power asking Diaz “how it felt to be a millionaire” while Diaz hurled back that all of “all UFC is using steroids” and inferred McGregor is among the masses. Taking a very brief pause from insulting Diaz, McGregor had choice words for Dos Anjos, implying he was running from the fight and he only needed to “ice his bruised foot,” and “take some ibruprofen.” Doubling down on Diaz as time went on, he called Diaz a fake gangster, insulted his current financial status and predicted a win as early as round one. Closing out the event, it appeared McGregor was going to share a moment of tenderness reiteriating that Diaz wasn’t afraid to take the fight but things soon went back in the other direction when he started calling him a “wanna be cholo from the hood.” Instead of engaging in a lengthy verbal battle Diaz responded with an about 100 F-Yous and reminded the crowd that UFC 196 isn’t just the McGregor show, it’s his show too.
Needless to say the crowd loved it. Bring on March 5th.
For photos and press conference video courtesy of BadCulture.net, click here:
