UFC 196 rivalry between Nate Diaz, Conor McGregor has unique origin

By Case Keefer (contact)

Friday, March 4, 2016 | 2 a.m.

While most around the UFC spent the last few years laughing at featherweight champion Conor McGregor’s antics during his ascendance to becoming the top draw in the promotion, Nate Diaz seethed.

It wasn’t that the veteran Diaz had a fundamental issue with McGregor’s penchant for trash talking and demanding big money. On the contrary, Diaz mostly agreed with McGregor.

The 30-year-old just believed he wasn’t afforded the same freedom when he acted similarly during his own rise in the UFC.

“With him, they’re telling him like, ‘Go ahead, keep talking,’” Diaz said. “With me, they’re like, ‘Someone put him in the back, keep him on the down low.’”

Diaz (18-10 MMA, 13-8 UFC) has the chance to ensure he’s never silenced again if he can defeat McGregor (19-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in the welterweight main event of UFC 196 Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. He took the fight on less than two weeks’ notice after McGregor’s original opponent, lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, pulled out with a broken foot.

McGregor’s brash persona has resulted in an armory of rivals, four of which were heavily considered as dos Anjos’ replacement in addition to Diaz — Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Urijah Faber, Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar.

Cerrone and Faber had engaged in highly visible disputes with McGregor, exchanging words at a news conference and “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, respectively. Aldo and Edgar are the top two fighters in the 145-pound division where McGregor currently reigns.

Diaz was the fighter with the most unique and indirect feud. His only frustration was the treatment of McGregor, which he let boil over following a unanimous-decision victory over Michael Johnson at UFC on Fox 17 last December.

Diaz called out McGregor in a burst of profanity accusing him of “taking everything I worked for.”

“I enjoyed the outburst,” McGregor recalled at the UFC 196 pre-fight news conference Thursday. “It was real from him, coming from a real emotion. You could see that. But as far as me taking everything he’s worked for, I’m a workhorse. I’ve worked and built and climbed this ladder through hard work and dedication. So I have taken nothing from nobody.”

That was one of many comments that sparked an exchange of words. McGregor and Diaz got so heated that a brawl nearly broke out at the event’s conclusion.

McGregor slapped away Diaz’s fist during a staredown pose, and both fighters’ camps rushed onstage before security separated everyone.

“He’s going to pop his cherry and make his first million here, so he really should be thankful and grateful for this opportunity I’m giving him,” McGregor said at one point.

That predictably didn’t sit well with Diaz.

“You should be thankful, too,” he barked back. “You’ve got a bigger check now too than fighting dos Anjos. That would have been a little penny check.”

McGregor responded, “Don’t talk about money, you’re broke. I could easily switch you up now and put you back on that ($20,000 to show, $20,000 to win) if you want. All I want is a thank you and even a little dance. Dance for me Nate, dance for me and don’t look me in the eye when you dance.”

The attack was typical McGregor, trying to fluster his opponent by bringing up a sensitive topic. Diaz has spent years complaining about his compensation.

He took over a year off from November 2013 to December 2014 holding out for a better contract. When the UFC didn’t budge, he showed up five pounds overweight for his next fight and lost a unanimous decision to dos Anjos at UFC on Fox 13.

“I felt they didn’t want my stock getting higher but they couldn’t stop it,” Diaz said. “Look at where I’m at.”

Diaz climbed back toward the top with his upset victory over Johnson, but that only evened his record to 8-8 over the last six years.

By comparison, McGregor has won seven in a row with six by knockout to start his UFC career, a longer streak than Diaz has ever mustered. But Diaz would contend that his competition was significantly tougher and that he showed just as much promise in 2007 when he won “The Ultimate Fighter” and four more bouts in a row to start his career.

To Diaz, UFC 196 is about taking from McGregor what he feels he deserves.

“As far as preaching martial arts and real fighters, just the big fights, I had already been talking that even before he was in the UFC,” Diaz said. “Now he’s this new guy with all this new stuff coming out, and everyone is pushing it.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.