Between the lines of Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz is a healthy dose of respect

In a lot of ways, the mutual respect between Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor heading into their UFC 202 rematch comes down to their voyage together into unchartered territory. McGregor is coming off his first UFC loss against Diaz, and now he’s trying to figure out how to down a man who didn’t go down on his kill shot the last time. Diaz is coming off a radical payday, the kind that can only happen against McGregor, and that has given him a bigger sense of his own power. Each has put the other in a novel position, and they continue to nod at each other from afar because they both know it. They were doing it again during Friday’s media conference call 15 days out from the fight, in which they rallied around the upcoming payday like a campfire. McGregor particularly warmed his hands by touting his new #TheMacLife website, which he believes will revolutionize media (or rather, as his clicks will attest, already is revolutionizing media). He referred to himself as a promotional potentate, of sorts, and at one point casually credited Mr. McGregor alongside Mr. Fertitta and Mr. White for being geniuses in the business. He also gave Nate props for his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel and, when it came down to it, he pointed out how difficult it is to do that kind of media before a fight.McGregor empathizing with Diaz? It all seems so…unphony. So brethreny. So big picture in a game usually broken into so many tiny ones.It’s been interesting going through the sequences of a Diaz-McGregor fight again, this time with the full build-up. We aren’t riding the …

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