The second Conor McGregor versus Nate Diaz fight at UFC 202 will take place at 170 pounds, and it looks like Nate is taking advantage of the extra weight allowance to bulk up. In a recent video posted by Ten Goose Boxing Gym coach Ricky Funez, Diaz looks visibly larger, while Funez claims that the Stockton fighter is nearly 200 pounds.
That’d be a pretty big change for the typically wiry Diaz, who usually competes in the 155-pound division and probably walked around on fight day somewhere in the 175-pound range. It could be that he’s doing the same thing McGregor was doing leading up to their first fight – eating big and putting on mass simply because he can. That didn’t actually work out great for McGregor, who blamed the loss to Diaz on cardio issues stemming from his weight gain. But considering Nate is a triathlete and cardiovascular freak, I doubt he’ll run into the same problem.
It’s not clear whether Funez is telling the truth about Nate’s size, though. It’s a classic mind game in combat sports to lie about weight and make your opponent worry that they’re gonna be the smaller, weaker man on fight night. For example, the Lauzon brothers used to post photos of their scale on fight day showing them 30+ pounds above their division weight. They later admitted they were faking the shots by holding jugs of water. Just another example of how some fighters will do anything to try and get the mental advantage over their opponent.
Regardless of the actual number Nate is weighing right now, you can’t deny that he’s looking bigger than usual. With McGregor already being the smaller man in this match up, that could spell trouble for the Irish fighter when the two meet again on August 20.