UFC 196 was a concentrated taste of complete and total awesomeness. Fight hype to the nth degree. In only ten days, we were able to go from an exciting and potentially history making lightweight title fight between Conor McGregor and Rafael Dos Anjos, to one of the most entertaining pre-fight build-ups in the history of the sport. There were no shortages of quotable zingers and wild moments, but in the end it’s a calm and collected Nate Diaz discussing his impressive victory with the awed FOX Sports crew that includes Conor McGregor’s potential next opponent – Frankie Edgar.
Nick and Nate Diaz have long been some of the biggest fan favorites in the sport over the last decade, but only in recent years has Nick gotten his push to stardom by Dana White and the UFC brass. Now it’s his little brother’s turn. After moving the needle on FOX multiple times, Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor very likely just put on a show for the ages in what’s predicted to be the biggest PPV buy-rate in UFC history.
For his part, Nate is chill, and his typical honesty with all cameras pointed at him is refreshing. Hearing Nate talk about the push Conor is getting, and then talking about how there was no way he’d get a full camp against Conor was interesting to say the least. FOX Sports usually doesn’t hear about this side of the sport.
You can see that Nate impressed some of the best of the best with his submission of Conor McGregor – Brian Stann, Dominick Cruz and Frankie Edgar are inthralled by his confidence and typical Diaz swagger during this interview. And after what felt like an eternity in the eye of the storm, we come out of UFC 196 in a calm state, with Diaz potentially getting a welterweight title shot against Robbie Lawler (at UFC 200?) and Frankie Edgar licking his chops, lying in wait for Conor McGregor.