Nate Diaz: Conor McGregor and I most likely will end up on the ground
Nate Diaz may be fighting at welterweight again this Saturday when he takes on Conor McGregor at UFC 196, but he insists he's still a lightweight. In order to fight McGregor on less than two weeks' notice, Diaz chose to fight at 170 pounds.
Moving forward, however, fans can expect Diaz to get back to his grind at 155 pounds.
"It was never that I couldn't make 155 — I said that I wasn't. It's two weeks' notice; they want me to fight? It's going to be at 170. I'm still a lightweight," he told reporter Megan Olivi in the video above.
"I'm still going to fight at 155 pounds. I'm not some big ol' 215-pound person. So, it's like — it's a fight. Let's just fight, if we're going to fight. I didn't get a normal camp, why should I do a normal weight cut? Let's make the fight happen. If you guys want it, that's your guys' call. So they said, 'Let's do it.'"
Then, Diaz and McGregor shared the press conference promoting their bout. Usually, McGregor runs over overmatched or relatively silent opponents. With Diaz, however, McGregor found his mental warfare match.
Looking back on it, Diaz was philosophical.
"It was all good. I had a lot of support. People came with some Conor fan base and then people changed because I put them up on some game, like, 'This is America and you're going for the Irish dude. That's all good, but are you sure you want to represent where you come from?'" he continued.
"He tries to run the show on people and I don't think there's much to say ... he's got to look at what I do and recognize that it's real [expletive]. I'm not falling into this [expletive] that he's trying to push off on everybody and get caught up in all this 'I'm the show,' because I'm the show, you know what I'm saying?"
Diaz says he's ready to bring the show in Vegas because he stays in good shape all year. "I always train to fight. Sometimes I train harder when I'm not fighting, just because I don't have too many hobbies," he said. "All I do is train."
A big part of that training has been his Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The black belt is one of the best submission artists in the UFC. On the feet, Diaz has the reach while McGregor has the speed. On the ground, however, it would seem as though Diaz would have a big advantage over the Irishman.
"I come from Cesar Gracie, Ralph Gracie. Now I train with Kron Gracie, Jake Shields," Diaz boasted. "I've got the best jiu-jitsu team in the world."
Diaz expects his fight with McGregor to go to the ground. If it doesn't, however, he'll still be ready.
"The fight might end up on the ground," he continued. "Most likely, it will. If not, I try to prepare for everything."
Diaz expects to be able to use his height and length advantage against the smaller McGregor.
"We're going to have to watch and see, but he's short, he hits hard," Diaz said. "He comes in low and throws punches. He's used to fighting guys who are 5-(foot)-5, 5-4, 5-6, and all the guys I'm fighting are his height.
"I think we're dealing with a different opponent, a different ballgame, different world now."
Part of that different world is the bigger-than-ever stage for Diaz. He may be the more experienced veteran, but McGregor has had a furious past couple years with a bright spotlight focused on him.
Diaz acknowledges that this circus is a bit of a step-up for him, but he doesn't seem daunted. "I've been in a lot of big fights, big things; obviously not this big," he said.
"It's a high-profile fight. Everyone is watching. But I've been in big shows. I've fought on the biggest cards there are. I've been through all this so it's just time to get to work and make sure everything goes right."
