Nate Diaz's 5 most memorable UFC fights

#5 vs. Conor McGregor – UFC 202 – 08/20/2016

Diaz's rematch with McGregor turned into a classic brawl

When word of the massive buyrate for UFC 196 emerged, it became pretty clear that a rematch between Diaz and McGregor was probably a must-book fight for the UFC, even if a lot of hardcore fans felt McGregor should’ve been forced to defend his UFC Featherweight title first. The promotion initially attempted to book the fight for the landmark UFC 200 show, but a dispute between the UFC and McGregor put paid to that, and the fight was instead re-booked for UFC 202.

If interest in the fight had been surprisingly low in the weeks leading up to the event, things changed swiftly when a pre-fight press conference went completely turbo. Diaz attempted to walk out, only to taunt McGregor first verbally, and then by throwing a bottle at him. Conor responded by launching cans of Monster energy drink at Diaz and his crew, and in a fashion that only McGregor and Diaz could’ve managed, all hell broke loose and suddenly the hype for the fight was off the charts again.

And while it probably didn’t deserve to be crowned the greatest UFC fight ever – as it was in an official UFC poll in early 2018 – the rematch turned into a real war of attrition that saw both fighters leave absolutely everything in the Octagon. It was the stone-cold classic that everyone had hoped it would be, with McGregor making the right adjustments to avoid losing in the same fashion as he had in the initial meeting, and Diaz simply being Diaz – always a tough fight for someone of McGregor’s fighting style.

The first and second rounds went firmly to McGregor, as he took a leaf from the book of the last man to beat Diaz – Dos Anjos – and worked him over with leg kicks that allowed him to set up his big power punches. Diaz went down three times in those two rounds, but by the end of the second he’d somehow willed himself back into the fight, landing those crisp combinations again and by the beginning of the third round, it appeared that the momentum had shifted.

Diaz took over the fight in the third, battering McGregor with combinations as the Irishman barely offered any offense in return. In the waning seconds, it appeared that the ‘Notorious One’ was on the ropes, but he managed to survive the round and then came roaring back in the fourth, apparently having found a second wind. The leg kicks and crisper punches returned and by the end of the round, it was Diaz – now a bloody mess – on the defensive.

The fifth round was a pure gutter-war, both men swinging for the fences – and landing, too – and Diaz really pushing hard for the takedown, safe in the knowledge that he could dominate McGregor on the ground again. Showing a somewhat underrated wrestling game, though, Conor was able to defend the takedown until the final moments of the fight – which ended with Diaz working inside the Irishman’s guard.

Whichever way the decision went, it was always going to be somewhat controversial due to the close nature of the fight – but few people argued when McGregor was awarded the win, two judges going 48-47 for him with the third going with a 47-47 draw. Diaz for his part looked furious, but then he’d always looked furious whenever he’d lost a decision in the past.

In the end, the fight not only surpassed all the hype going in, but it broke the UFC’s pay-per-view buyrate record too – drawing a monstrous 1.6 million buys and cementing both men as massive stars. And despite it marking a loss on Diaz’s record, it remains undoubtedly his most memorable UFC fight – until the potential trilogy with McGregor is completed, of course.