Fan-favorite Nate Diaz feels he somehow had a hand in Floyd Mayweather’s TKO win over Conor McGregor in 2017. In a recent conversation with Ariel Helwani, Diaz believes Mayweather saw the “blueprint” to beat “The Notorious” at UFC 196.
“I think he did horrible,” Diaz said of McGregor’s performance against Mayweather. “I think he did exactly what these boxers and I and everybody thought he would do. He went in there, punched himself out, and got knocked out. He didn’t learn from what happened when I fought him.
“Because I think Floyd Mayweather watched the blueprint right there on how to beat him. Like, ‘OK, go make him punch himself out and then finish him off.’ When that fight started, the Mayweather fight, that’s exactly what was happening. Because that’s not how Mayweather fights. He ran up on him like I ran up on him, made him punch himself out, finished him off and Conor took the bait.
Nate Diaz hanging out with #FloydMayweather after Mayweather's bout with #ConorMcGregor. : @allelbows pic.twitter.com/65PMA7eeQy
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) August 27, 2017
“So I didn’t think he did a good job at all. And the whole world was telling him… talking about how good he did in the fight. Because he threw hard punches and stuff and made it (to) 11 rounds. Floyd Mayweather’s smaller and that’s how you do it. You go out there and make the guy do what he already did.”
Diaz became the first fighter to defeat McGregor in the UFC when they first met in March 2016. After a slow start in round one, he eventually got the job done in round two via rear-naked choke.
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