As different as they may be on the surface, at the heart of both domains is the story-telling aspect that makes the audience want to tune in each week. Drama is humanity’s greatest aphrodisiac, and both pro-wrestling and MMA revolve around relaying a compelling narrative.
And that was exactly what the second fight put on by Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor at UFC 202 encapsulated.
Conor McGregor had to win this fight in order to continue being the larger-than- life personality that had served the sport so astutely in the past year or two. He was treading a fine line, while full well aware that another loss to Diaz could have seen him irrevocably cut down to size.
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Nate Diaz, in turn, who was fuelled by the chip on his shoulder, was finally getting his due in being recognized as the superstar he had always claimed he possessed the gumption to be.
On one hand, you had the cult hero; ignored conveniently by the powers that be and scantly regarded as a ‘needle mover’, until he upped and choked the life out of that notion with his ‘upset’ victory over Conor McGregor at UFC 196.
On the other, the golden boy of the sport, who in many ways, has come to represent the very epitome of how MMA is perceived by the mainstream public today; brash yet undeniably dramatic, tasteless yet irrefutably dynamic.
The tantalizing prospect of a redemption story – attached with strings bearing heavy implications on the landscape of the UFC – tied it all together. All in all, it was must-watch television. In a nutshell, Vince McMahon would have been proud of this one.
And it wasn’t as though the WWE supremo was otherwise left out of the loop at UFC 202 either; in all the pre-fight trash-talk that Conor McGregor hurled at the WWE, it was telling how he refused to disrespect Vince McMahon, The Rock or Ric Flair. It was classic heelery, putting himself over while putting others down, and yet not straying too far from the vein of reality while doing so.
Those who ‘deserved’ respect were attested their dues, while all else fell by the wayside to McGregor’s sharp tongue. It was a promo that would have parallelled a 'pipebomb', had it only been cut within the confines of the squared circle rather than from inside the Octagon.
Almost on cue, a barrage of WWE Superstars responded in kind to his caustic comments. It would seem that the perennial heel had touched a nerve after all; only, he wasn't even a pro-wrestler to begin with.
