Saturday’s bout between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz at UFC 202 was one of the most tightly contested main events you’ll see. And while that made for thrilling theater, it also stirred up plenty of controversy.
McGregor was awarded the victory by a hair in a slim 48-47, 47-47, 48-47 decision. He did so by adopting a more controlled, calculated strategy, letting Diaz come to him while landing a number of solid strikes on the California native.
Yet Diaz did land more strikes overall than McGregor, and he sounded off after the bout, accusing “The Notorious” of running away from contact.
“He did a lot of running in that fight,” Diaz said. “He should have gotten a yellow card for that type of thing. He ran the whole fight. Did you see me chasing him around (the octagon) and pointing at him like, ‘Where are you going? You’re scared to engage.’ I feel like they should have took points for that.”
Diaz did point at McGregor several times throughout the fight, at one point giving the Irishman the middle finger as he maintained his distance. But the strategy worked for McGregor, who was able to avoid the ground game that ultimately lost him their initial fight at UFC 196.
As for Diaz-McGregor Round 3, Diaz said he’s up for a rematch whenever McGregor is ready.
“Nothing else interests me,” Diaz said. “… We can do it as soon as they want to set it up. I’m ready to rock.”
Thumbnail photo via Joshua Dahl/USA TODAY Sports Images
