Statistics can come in handy in many areas but they’re not always the best way to reflect the outcome of a fight.
There is no denying that Conor McGregor re-match with Nate Diaz was a closely contested battle and the figures registered by FightMetric back that up big time.
Throughout the course of the five-round main event, Diaz actually enjoyed a slight edge in terms of volume as he out-hit his Irish opponent by a mere two significant strikes over 25 minutes.
Diaz landed 166 of his 343 significant strikes while McGregor found a home for 164 of his 286 significant shots.
While Diaz threw more and landed more, The Notorious was more accurate as he had a significant strike percentage of 57% compared to Diaz’s 48%.
In terms of overall strikes, Diaz’s advantage was much more pronounced with 252 of his 435 landing compared to McGregor’s 197 of 322.
In the end, it was the knockdowns enjoyed by the Irishman that likely got him over the line in the eyes of the judges as he sent his opponent to the mat on three occasions whereas Diaz’s volume-punching style doesn’t lend itself to knockout power and McGregor was not put down from strikes at any stage of the fight.
Even though Diaz registered a takedown at the very end of the fifth round, it was too little too late after he had already failed on his previous six attempts to bring the featherweight champion to the mat.
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