Share
31st August 2017
07:48pm BST
"That’s a fair trade. I didn’t ask for the rematch at a lower weight, I asked for the rematch at the exact same weight," McGregor added. "I thought that was a fair play move on my half, and then I came in and I won. So now, I won that, then I won the 155lbs title after that. If he wants to fight, he’s got to make that 155lbs limit."
Asking Diaz to move 155lbs is simply a non-issue because lightweight is his ideal weight class. He won the TUF 5 tournament at lightweight, he's currently ranked at lightweight and he considers himself a lightweight.
Diaz's experiment at 170lbs between 2010 and 2011 resulted in varying degrees of success as he went 2-2 at welterweight before he returned to his home at 155lbs.
The only reason that Diaz insisted upon 170lbs for his initial meeting with 'The Notorious' at UFC 196 was because the Stockton fighter accepted the fight on just days notice, standing in for the injured Rafael dos Anjos, so a cut to lightweight would have been impossible at that stage and then it was at McGregor's request that the rematch took place at the same weight because he wanted to replicate the conditions of the first fight, which ended in the Irishman's first UFC defeat.
UFC President Dana White was responsible for perpetuating the narrative of Diaz being this giant who dwarfed McGregor for a few reasons. He wanted something of an excuse for McGregor's defeat at UFC 196 because how on earth would the puny featherweight champion at the time be able to compete with an absolute colossus like Diaz? And then White wanted to sell the UFC 202 rematch by painting it as a David vs. Goliath contest.
"Conor has to try to weigh 168lbs when they’re weighing in at 170. The night of the fight, Diaz comes in at 190," White said to Hot 97 in New York, via FanSided.
Some solid promotion from Uncle Dana but, shockingly, it was not quite true.
"Tell Dana I said get off Conor’s nuts," Diaz told MMA Fighting. "I left my room to that fight at 176lbs, so when I fought I was probably 173. Quit telling people I was a monster to make him look good. I’ve been a lightweight my whole career."
We would imagine that Diaz has better knowledge of his weight than his boss and while we understand the strategy that both White and McGregor seem eager to employ by claiming that Diaz is some kind of behemoth, it's simply not true.
Neither McGregor nor Diaz would have any issue in making 155lbs and both would likely weigh just about 170lbs come fight night after rehydrating from that weight cut.
It's just not an issue so book the damn fight.Explore more on these topics:
