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26th August 2016
05:00pm BST
Round 1
Leg strikes are the order of the day, for McGregor, and Roddy [McGregor's striking coach] does most of the talking. "Chop the leg, chop the leg," he bellows. "Set up and chop." The other mantras from Roddy are 'hands high', 'stay off the centre' and 'take your time'. Dillon Danis, who had extensively trained Jiu-Jitsu with McGregor in the fight build-up, is also vocal with his encouragement. "His leg's already hurt," he says midway through the round. Kavanagh keeps his input to 'nice' and 'perfect' but become animated when McGregor floors Diaz and contemplates diving in. Kavanagh roars:"Patience! CONOR!"
McGregor allows Diaz up and is told 'stay on that leg'. "Game-plan," Kavanagh advises as Olé, Olé, Olé rang out for the first time.
As Diaz recovers from his knock-down and starts to talk smack, Danis cautions McGregor not to lose focus.
Round 2
"Everything is working the way we thought," Kavanagh assures McGregor as he gets his heart-rate back to human levels again. "Keep doing what you are doing, we got four rounds to go... No rushing anything" Within a minute of the second round starting, Diaz is down again. As large sections of the crowd bay for a finish, Kavanagh shouts, "Conor! Stay away!"
"He's hurt," says Danis but Kavanagh is preaching patience. Roddy wants him to target the body. A left jab beats Diaz' guard and he is down again. McGregor is tempted to follow him. Kavanagh yells:
"Back away! Conor. CONOR! Back away. Back to the leg kick."As the round nears its conclusion, Danis remarks, "His leg is mangled." However Diaz is not done. As he starts to stalk forward, the crowd sense that too and raise their collective voice. "Shell up!" is the advice as The Notorious ducks, weaves and eats some strikes on the fence. "Bring your beats down" says a calm Kavanagh. "He's got one more round in him. That was his last flurry." "I'm brand new," McGregor insists.
Round 3
The audio switches over to the Diaz camp. Perez tells his man that McGregor is going to come out flying after a tough third round."Drive him back! Drive him back!" "Cover up and press!"Perez and Jake Shields are screaming their heads off as Diaz storms back into this contest. McGregor is mashed up against the fence for large sections but can't be taken down. He responds with some nice crosses but Diaz has his back-pedalling. "Beat him up Nate," they shout. Diaz responds... McGregor is told by his corner he has 50 seconds left. He appears to be flagging but keeps moving and jagging enough to avoid serious damage.
"Finish him. Finish him!" Diaz' corner shout, but he can't.
Round 4
"He's drowning," Shields declares as Diaz gets off his stool for the fourth round and we are back with McGregor's corner. "Jab," is the gospel they are preaching as McGregor looks to get back to what served him well in the opening rounds. Sticking and moving. "Win this round with the jab," says Roddy. "Jab, leg-kick, that's all we want." Diaz, who is leaking blood from several cuts to his face, is attempting to get into McGregor's head - flipping him off, trash-talking and delivering Stockton Slaps. "Don't fall for his shit Conor," Danis yells. "You're the smarter fighter." Having dominated the round, Kavanagh does not want to lose it by doing anything silly. "Back up Conor," is the advice as the buzzer took the fight into the final round.Round 5
"Five minutes for the best fight of your life. You can do anything for five minutes... Back away. He has to chase. You're three rounds to one up," says Kavanagh. McGregor's corner are hoping for a repeat of round four but know Diaz will be looking for the take-down. Hands high. Move. Jab. Move. Keep bloody moving. Don't let him get close. Diaz is dangerously close to a double leg take-down but McGregor repels him."Conor don't worry," says Danis, "you have better Jiu-Jitsu. You have better everything. Believe in yourself. Believe!"
McGregor is just about out on his feet and takes more than one look at the clock. Danis is the most vocal but all three encourage.
With 10 seconds to go, Diaz flips McGregor to the mat but time is against him. McGregor eats some shots but Kavanagh does not sound too concerned. "It's over," he says. Four punches and a buzzer later, it is.
The decision
McGregor gets the nod - 48-47, 47-47, 48-47 - and his arm is raised.
He seems to have a telepathic link with Kavanagh, Danis is a great addition to his corner and Roddy's advice was spot-on. The only thing they didn't reckon on was that Diaz could take so, so, so much punishment and still march forward.
It was a near perfect game-plan and Diaz was still standing. McGregor Diaz III should be something else.
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