Nate Diaz’s boxing coach believes Conor McGregor will have an even tougher time against his fighter, should a rematch get booked for UFC 200.
Perez said explained during a recent interview on the Deep Waters Podcast that his fighter will be a different beast if he got to face McGregor again with a full training camp under his belt.
“It would be better because we only had 11 days and we only trained for nine.”
Diaz came in on extremely short notice to fight the featherweight champion at UFC 196, as a replacement for Rafael dos Anjo who withdrew with a foot injury. The pair duked it out at 170 in the headline bout, with Diaz getting the victory via second round submission.
However, Perez thinks Diaz will look even better against the Notorious should the rumours that a rematch is on the cards for UFC 200 ring true.
“Usually, when someone gets two weeks’ notice, chances are they are going to lose. But I had a lot of confidence in Nathan and Nathan had a lot of confidence in the way we train, and in the way he trains — he does bicycle riding, running, swimming.”
Perez believes that McGregor would be better off defending his featherweight crown in his next trip to the Octagon and warned the Irishman that if he gets a rematch against Diaz, he should not expect the same fighter he fought at UFC 196.
“If I were McGregor’s trainer, I’d say, let’s go back to 145. You’re awesome there. Fight Frankie Edgar or some top guy like that, but I guess they want a rematch. That’s going to be different.”
“That’s going to be different because, like you’re saying, he’d have a full camp. In a full camp, Nathan don’t mess around.”
