Morning Report: Nate Diaz says ‘They’d better hope I lose because if I win this one, I’m really taking over’

The UFC 202 promotional push is about to begin in full.

With UFC 201 in the books, the next UFC pay-per-view event is UFC 202, in just over two weeks. It’s an event that happens to have the most anticipated rematch in UFC history, a 170-pound fight between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz. McGregor is the biggest star in the company so the next two weeks will likely be filled with a serious promotional blitz. This started Tuesday when UFC Fight Pass put up an interview by Megan Olivi with Nate Diaz where he talked about his first fight with McGregor and their upcoming rematch.

“So when it first got booked I was like, ‘They want to get me right back in there and try to win this back and weed me out again.’ That’s how it felt. I’m was like, ‘Can I just sit back for eight months and soak up some popularity and some exposure and just go on vacation and do what I gotta do?’ And they were like, ‘We want this’ and I’m like, ‘Why so quick? Whatever.’ Then the deals got done and I was like, ‘Wow. That payday and this payday in that short amount of time, can’t pass that up so let’s do it. But I feel like these guys want to weed me right back out, hoping that I lose. Alright, they’d better hope I lose because if I win this one, I’m really taking over.”

McGregor and Diaz first fought in March at UFC 196. McGregor was scheduled to face UFC lightweight champion Raphael dos Anjos but shortly before the fight dos Anjos withdrew due to injury. On only 11 days’ notice, Diaz stepped in to fight McGregor, ultimately stopping him in the second round with a rear-naked choke. It was seen by many as a catastrophe for the promotion, their biggest star losing to a non-champion on only 11 days’ notice. But for Diaz is was a star-making performance. After the fight, he became one of the biggest names in the UFC,

For McGregor, it was a black mark on his otherwise pristine UFC record, a mark he desperately wanted to erase. The rematch was booked quickly for UFC 200 but the fight was pulled from the card when McGregor refused to fulfill all of his mandated media obligations. McGregor retired, then unretired, and then a behind the scenes power struggle occurred. During this cluster, Diaz held out for more money from the UFC. Finally, the rematch was booked for UFC 202 which is now just 17 days away. This time though, Diaz will have the benefit of a full fight camp, which he says is the only thing different about this fight.

“I’m gonna prepare. That’s about it. We’re gonna see. Same thing like I always say, we’ll go out there and my objective is to win. I’m gonna train hard and try to get it done. I believe I’m the superior martial artist. I’m just gonna go in there and get the job done and not get anything I don’t expect. My plan is to win and do good and work hard and win the fight. That’s my plan and we’re gonna have to see what happens.”

Nate Diaz rematches Conor McGregor at 170 pounds in the main event of UFC 202 on August 20th in Las Vegas, Nev.

Here is a clip of the interview. The full interview is available on Fight Pass. In it Nate talks about triathlons, his brother Nick, and a host of other subjects.

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