It’s finally time for UFC 202.
Fight fans have been waiting for this day ever since Nate Diaz scored a stunning victory over Conor McGregor at UFC 196 in March, and for good reason. The Diaz-McGregor rivalry is the biggest in UFC at the moment, as even water bottles aren’t safe when those two are around each other.
McGregor is looking for redemption Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, which would also force a decisive third bout between the two fighters, while Diaz hopes to shut up “The Notorious” once and for all. This welterweight fight should be one for the ages.
The main event card will kick off at 10 p.m. ET on pay-per-view, but fight fans will have plenty of preliminary bouts to hold them over until then.
Be sure to check back here for a live blog of McGregor-Diaz with round-by-round analysis. You also can check out live results for every fight below and view a live stream of the event here.
Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz Live Round-By-Round Commentary
Pre-Fight: The moment we’ve all been waiting for finally is here. McGregor and Diaz both are in the octagon. It’s time for the main event.
Round 1: McGregor spent the first minute attacking Diaz’s plant foot with brutal leg kicks. McGregor then connected with a straight left and knocked Diaz down momentarily. McGregor hit Diaz with a nice combo with about 2:30 left in the round. Diaz eventually did get some shots in on McGregor, but Diaz noticeably was lighter on his leg because of McGregor’s kicks.
Without a doubt, Round 1 goes to McGregor.
Round 2: The McGregor dominance continued early in the second as “The Notorious” tagged Diaz a couple of times. Diaz then started to bleed around the nose, and his right leg noticeably was in rough shape. The leg kicks then continued, but Diaz started to put some pressure on McGregor later in the round. McGregor appeared to get tired, and Diaz hit a few nice combos.
This fight got real interesting toward the end of that round.
Round 3: The fatigue continued to be noticeable for McGregor, and it didn’t seem like he could last much longer. However, McGregor got some new life with around 3:30 left in Round 3. The two later tangled against the cage, and McGregor got in a nice elbow shot to Diaz’s head. Diaz did get a nice combo on the break, though. Diaz kept pointing at McGregor after hitting him. Diaz got in some more brutal body shots up against the cage in the final minute, but he managed to hang on until the horn.
That round definitely goes to Diaz, and McGregor doesn’t look like he has much left.
Round 4: Diaz started bleeding profusely, and he can’t even see McGregor. Then McGregor connected on some hard left hands right to Diaz’s face, bloodying him even more. Diaz’s advantage in total hits started to grow significantly, but McGregor got new life in this round. He got out of a clinch and hit Diaz with a great combo with under two minutes left. McGregor continued to hit some nice combos when they went face-to-face in the middle of the octagon in the final minute.
That sure looked like a win for McGregor. And now we’re on to the final round!
Round 5: McGregor attempted a flying knee, but Diaz countered and got “The Notorious” against the cage. Diaz continued to bleed all over, and McGregor blocked a takedown attempt. Diaz then hit a combo and McGregor had to regroup. Diaz got McGregor back against the cage and connected with a huge elbow to the face, but McGregor’s defensive skills might just win him this bout. McGregor turned it around and got Diaz against the cage. Diaz scored a huge takedown in the final seconds.
This will go to the judges.
Result: Conor McGregor beat Nate Diaz by majority decision, 48-47, 47-47, 48-47. Now we need McGregor-Diaz 3.
UFC 202 Main Card Fights (10 p.m.)
Conor McGregor def. Nate Diaz, majority decision (48-47, 47-47, 48-47)
Anthony Johnson def. Glover Teixeira, TKO (Round 1, :13)
Donald Cerrone def. Rick Story, TKO (Round 2, 2:02)
Mike Perry def. Hyun Gyu Lim, TKO (Round 1, 3:38)
Tim Means def. Sabah Homasi, TKO (Round 2, 2:54)
FOX Sports 1 Prelims (8 p.m.)
Cody Garbrandt def. Takeya Mizugaki, TKO (Round 1, :48)
Raquel Pennington def. Elizabeth Phillips, unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Artem Lobov def. Chris Avila, unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Cortney Casey def. Randa Markos, submission (Round 1, 4:34)
UFC Fight Pass Prelims (6:30 p.m.)
Lorenz Larkin def. Neil Magny, TKO (Round 1, 4:08)
Colby Covington def. Max Griffin, TKO (Round 3, 2:18)
Marvin Vettori def. Alberto Uda, submission (Round 1, 4:30)
Click to watch UFC 202 online >>
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports
