Nate Diaz segrade tidigare mot Conor McGregor i weltervikt under UFC 196 i början av mars. Nu kommer de återigen mötas under UFC 200 i en direkt retur, men det har fått mycket kritik från fighters och fans.
Diaz anser att UFC ger matchen som en present till McGregor och att man försöker återuppliva hypen kring den irländske fightern. McGregor hade återigen chansen att gå titelmatch i lättvikt mot mästaren Rafael Dos Anjos eller försvara sitt fjäderviktsbälte mot antingen Jose Aldo eller Frankie Edgar, men insisterade på att fortsätta i weltervikt.
Det här berättade Diaz via ”ESPN”:
Since that last fight, have you heard any praise for me from Dana or the UFC? None at all. ”How much praise has that m—–f—– got? I’ve never lost a fight and not wanted to fight the guy 10 minutes later. The UFC is pumping him up again, saying he wants to redeem himself and giving him all this credit for it. It’s like, dude, I’ve been obsessed with every fight I’ve ever lost. This is a gift for him to get it right away.
He’s saying he’s obsessed? Welcome to my life, m—–f—–. That’s the game, and I’ve never gotten my losses back.
Diaz känner att det hela handlar om att irländaren försöker hävda sig och rätta till det som han gjorde fel i första mötet.
He knows that if he goes in and changes circumstances, then that’s weak. It’s not cool to go in and make your own set of rules because you lost on another set. If you’re going to avenge your loss, you’ve gotta go out and avenge it for real. It’s like a guy saying, ’Let’s fight again, but no takedowns.’ That’s weak, and he knows that.
I think I can beat every fighter from my weight up to heavyweight. I really do feel like I’m better than everyone, but I feel like if I don’t go in there and do what I’m supposed to do, you can f— up and lose to anyone. So even a guy I just beat, I need to make sure I prepare and get the job done. Kill or be killed. There’s a lot of pressure in this sport. I need to go in and make s— happen my way.
McGregor och Diaz möter varandra under UFC 200 som äger rum i Las Vegas den 9 juli.
