Conor McGregor captured a hard-fought decision victory against Nate Diaz at UFC 202. The fight featured brilliant action from both, but McGregor ultimately edged Diaz after 25 minutes of battle. This article will attempt to highlight some of the key factors that played into McGregor’s victory.
Preparation
Before we look at a single round, let’s talk about the preparation Conor McGregor had coming into this highly-anticipated rematch. After losing the first fight to Nate Diaz (who took the fight on 11 days notice), it was evident that Conor McGregor would have his work cut out for him. What he did was construct a fight camp unlike any other.
McGregor’s team, Straight Blast Gym (SBG), typically doesn’t prepare for specific opponents for fear of them pulling out last minute like many of McGregor’s opponents have done. With Nate Diaz though, Conor knew who he’d be fighting as there would be no chance of Diaz pulling out. Because of this, Conor flew in several high level boxers and grapplers to help prepare him specifically for Diaz. The whole fight camp was rumored to have cost McGregor $300,000.
Pre-fight
During the well-documented build up, Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz engaged in several heated verbal exchanges. Showing their emotional vulnerabilities, I wondered how well they would do holding emotions back in the fight. Nevertheless, the stoicism of Conor McGregor was evident from his walk out. He looked to be very well separated from the intense build up during the week.
The Fight
Getting into the fight, there were a few key techniques I want to point out on both ends that made this fight what it was.
Conor McGregor’s leg kicks
We have seen Conor McGregor throw side kicks to his opponent’s legs, but never before has Conor thrown so many round leg kicks. Against an orthodox fighter, throwing the inside low kick leaves Conor open to the overhand right. Against a southpaw (like Nate Diaz), Conor could attack the lead thigh with little worry.
So why was this a part of McGregor’s arsenal?
First off, past opponents have had great success chopping Diaz’s front leg. He typically stands heavy on it in order to accompany his boxing style, and relies on having a wide, heavy stance.
Secondly, it gives Conor a weapon to use at distance. Even though Diaz has a 2″ reach advantage, Conor spent a lot of time at kicking range and not at a closer punching range. He felt comfortable being there because Diaz isn’t known to be a powerful kicker. He could chop the thigh with no worry of taking kicks back.
Thirdly, the leg kicks limited Diaz’s mobility. This helped Conor survive late in the fight when Diaz eventually began moving forward. In the first fight, Diaz had no problem marching Conor down when he needed to. In this fight, Diaz was not as successful doing so because he couldn’t generate any spring out of his lead leg. Instead, Diaz was forced to instigate a clinch if he wanted to land offense.
Nate Diaz’s clinch work
With how much success Diaz had in the first fight busting Conor up in the clinch, I figured it would be the go-to strategy in this fight. And it seemed to be. Not only did Nate land a large volume of strikes when he had Conor against the cage, but he did a great job of leaning on Conor to tire him out. A lot of Conor’s fatigue we saw in the later rounds was due to Nate’s exhausting clinch work.
That being said, Conor McGregor capitalized on the small openings Diaz gave him. In the video above, you see Conor duck under a big right hand and try to circle off, but Diaz stayed on him with a follow up. There were other moments in the fight where Conor was able to create space and land an elbow, or circle off the cage and get back to the middle.
This leads me into the next tactic Conor used:
Conor McGregor’s repositioning
Many criticized McGregor for “running away” during a few moments of this fight, but what he was doing was repositioning. It isn’t a fan-friendly tactic, but it helps him slow the pace of the fight for when Nate Diaz comes on strong.
This may look like severe fatigue, or perhaps a lapse in focus, but Conor McGregor knows what he is doing here. He slips the jab, and starts to walk back to the center of the Octagon to get away from the cage. Meanwhile, Diaz taunts him, but notice how Diaz isn’t cutting him off and continuing his attack? This is a tactic by Conor McGregor to slow the pace of the fight, and recalibrate for the next exchange.
Conor McGregor’s body work
Another focus of Conor McGregor’s preparation this time around was to work Diaz’s body more. Conor slammed the body in the first fight, but not nearly enough. This time, Conor offered up a steady dose of attacks aimed at the breadbasket.
Conor made a very brief, interesting reference to his body work during his post-fight press conference. He said,
“I knew I would have that moment when he was going to be in my face … so I cut shots and deflected shots, and then hit him to the body a couple of times and it turned the momentum again in my favor.”
We saw this when the two locked up and started exchanging close-range blows. Diaz’s strong-suit is that his stream of offense is never ending; it may not be powerful, but it’s constant, continuous, and extremely frustrating. Rather than trying to fight fire with fire, Conor went after the gas tank by ripping the body. This is why we saw Nate Diaz slow down and not be able to capitalize much late in the fight.
Nate Diaz’s swarms
Nate Diaz is most dangerous when he has his opponent backed against the cage; unloading with vicious, vulgar, voluminious swarms of pitter-patter shots. Conor McGregor got himself out of many dangerous situations, but there was one moment at the end of the third round where Conor was in danger. It looked like any second Conor McGregor was going to either crumble, or shoot a desperate takedown attempt like he did the first fight.
But even so, Conor McGregor survived to the bell, and went on to win the next round. It was a fantastic display of heart, courage, and will power on the Irishman’s part.
Here are a couple other clips of Nate swarming McGregor, and putting punches in bunches. Notice the repositioning by Conor to help get himself out of a sticky situation. The swarms by Nate were effective, but he would have been able to continue them if he had both legs to carry himself forward.
Conor McGregor’s slips and counters
Lastly, Conor McGregor shined the most when he was able to continually slip and counter. He had success in the first fight slipping the jab and throwing the left overhand, but Diaz adjusted and threw a check hook to catch Conor over-extending on the left.
This time around, Conor McGregor threw a much straighter, more precise counter left hand.
In several of these sequences you see Diaz initiating with a loop lead right hand, and Conor countering brilliantly with the straight left. Time and time again, Conor dinged Diaz in the early going to cause a lot of the damage that carried into the later rounds.
Some slick reactions from Conor late in the fight:
The Result:
It was a warrior-like effort out of both men. Even though the majority decision was contested, I feel it was the accurate decision to make. Conor McGregor started strong, but fell into the same blackhole he did in the first fight. Only this time, he was able to get himself out, win the fourth round, and thus the fight.
Just like that, we have the fuel to fire up a third meeting between these two. While I can say I’m excited and would love a trilogy, realistically speaking it’s probably going to be a year or two down the road. Now is the time we sit back, enjoy this fight for a while, and prepare for upcoming events that are sure to produce more entertaining fights.
As always, thanks for reading!
