UFC 202: Pros predict Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor 2

LAS VEGAS — The twists and turns of the fight game never cease to amaze. Six months ago, the notion of a Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor rivalry was a pipe dream, a bit of fantasy matchmaking that sounded fun but never made much tangible sense. But now? At this rate, the blood feud between the 209 and fighting pride of Ireland has a chance to go down as one of the most unforgettable rivalries over the past decade.

Consider everything we have seen since that first February press conference in that makeshift UFC Gym. The fist punch, the money channel. The upset, the false retirement. The empty chair that signaled the end of the road, then the bottle brawl that picked up business right where it left off. But still, a rivalry is only a true rivalry when victory has been tasted by both sides, and it will be up to McGregor to prove at UFC 202 that what he shares with Diaz is exactly that, rather than simply one fighter who has another’s number.

And curiously enough, when we turned to McGregor’s UFC 202 peers for their thoughts on having a front row seat to the spectacle, opinion was split about the theatrics that have overtaken fight week. But when that same opinion was asked of McGregor’s chances at revenge against Diaz… well, those peers weren’t so generous.

Tim Means: You know McGregor tries to play the mind warfare, but you can’t do that with the Diaz guys. They actually feed off that and their energy gets better. I think throwing the bottles and all of that, the people who didn’t want to buy the pay-per-view, they’re going to buy it now. Two guys who dislike each other, it’s good animosity. But I think McGregor loses again by submission in the second round.

I think he’s going to come out and land his shots, and he hits hard or whatever at 145, but you have more durable guys at 170. He mentally messed himself up. He was able to hit Nate Diaz with his best shots and he couldn’t get him out of the fight, and it broke him.

Donald Cerrone: They’re trying to get in each other’s heads and it’s working. I just don’t know if Conor is going to get in Nate’s head. Nate, he’s pretty solid, man.

I got Diaz. Diaz has 10 years of jiu-jitsu. You can’t just hire somebody and two months later be a black belt. I mean, stand-up, the guy Conor’s hands are nice. I’m not taking anything away from him. But as far as his wrestling and his jiu-jitsu, that’s an area that he lacks and unfortunately you can’t just learn that overnight. So Diaz has been in the game a long time, and unless he gets knocked out, I see this fight going a lot like it did the first time.

Colby Covington: I really just think these guys need to conduct themselves a lot better than that. We’re professionals, right? You’re getting paid a lot of money, so you should conduct yourself in a better manner than that. But that’s them. That’s not me. But I definitely had heard feedback from my friends and they think that it looks a little …

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