Nate Diaz is great at two things – fighting and trash talking.
He displayed both those skills during his bloody battle with Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC 202.
Diaz, although he came up short last weekend, is one of the most vocal competitors in the history of MMA and he repeatedly speaks to his opponents when the Octagon doors slam shut.
Throughout the 25 minutes on Saturday, Diaz could be seen laughing whenever McGregor would jog away to catch his breath and there was more than one occasion when the camera picked up the Stockton fighter flashing his middle finger towards the corner of ‘The Notorious’ when the pair were clinching against the fence.
And McGregor’s head coach John Kavanagh has revealed on the MMA Hour that Diaz had a very sweary response to some corner advice directed at McGregor in the fourth round.
Kavanagh said: “There was a funny part in the fight, I don’t know if it was picked up or not, but they were in our corner and Conor had thrown a turning side kick which wasn’t part of the gameplan at all and I shouted at Conor ‘Gameplan! Gameplan! Stick to the gameplan.’
“And in the midst of all that madness, Nate looks down at me and goes ‘F— you and your gameplan!’
“It was a crazy moment. I’m having a conversation with him and at the same time his eyes are all over the place… That was deep in round four.
“I was looking at him taking these heavy, heavy shots and walking forward and smiling. In my head I’m thinking I’m glad I’m on the outside here because this is insane that Conor has hit him with everything.
“It’s an incredible ability that Nate has and that’s why I think it’s the toughest fight because at 155 lbs or 145 lbs, anyone else that Conor lands those shots on, which he will, they’re all going to go down. Only Nate can take those.”
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