Diaz: If I win this one, I’m really taking over
Nate Diaz: If I beat Conor McGregor, I’m REALLY taking over
“I’m not here to take part, I’m here to take over.”
Conor McGregor
Nate Diaz appeared on the latest installment of the UFC Fight Pass original series “The Exchange with Megan Olivi” and discussed the rematch with Conor McGregor at UFC 202 on August 20, 2016 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The full episode is streaming now on UFC Fight Pass.
Diaz accepted the first fight at UFC 196 on 10 days notice, when he was sitting on a yacht in Cabo. He tapped McGregor out in the second round, and the UFC quickly came calling with a contract for a rematch at UFC 200. When McGregor refused media duties, he was pulled from the event, which has now been rescheduled.
The rapidity of the rematch led Diaz to conclude the UFC hoped to get the hugely popular McGregor a win. His preference would have been to take some time enjoying the win, and the reported $2,000,000 he made.
“When it first got booked, I was like, ‘Man, they want to get me right back in there again and try to win this back and weed me out again.’ That’s how I felt,” said Diaz, as transcribed by Damon Martin for FOX Sports. “Can I sit back for eight months and soak up some popularity and exposure and go on vacation and do what I gotta do?
“They were like, ‘We want this,’ and I was like why so quick? But I was like, whatever, and then the deals got done.”
“I was like these guys want to weed me right back out hoping that I’d lose.”
Diaz was asked about the difference between this fight and the first one.
“I’m going to prepare, that’s about it,” he said. “We’re going to see. The same thing I always say: My objective is to win, I’m going to train hard and try to get it done. I believe I’m the superior martial artist and I’m just going to go in there and get the job done.
“My plan is to win and do good, work hard and win the fight.”
“They better hope I lose, because if I win this one I’m really taking over.”
In a sport that rightly markets itself as “as real as it gets,” Nate Diaz and his brother Nick really are as real as it gets. If Nate Diaz takes over MMA, the sport will be better off for it.