Dustin Poirier reacts after his knockout victory over Conor McGregor of Ireland in a lightweight fight during the UFC 257 event inside Etihad Arena on UFC Fight Island on January 23, 2021 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Nate Diaz was speaking to ESPN and had a go at Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier from UFC 257
Ariel Helwani got the chance to speak to Nate Diaz, something that many UFC fans would have been interested into.
Diaz is one of the top UFC stars of all-time but he hasn’t fought since losing to Jorge Masvidal a couple of years back.
Diaz was expected to return in 2020 but Covid-19 and several restrictions ensured that didn’t happen. However, he is ready to fight in 2021 and shared his thoughts on a couple of rivals.
Diaz has fought Conor McGregor twice and missed out on a clash against Dustin Poirier too. While he called out Poirier for a fight at 170 pounds, he was asked about the fight at UFC 257.
Poirier and McGregor fought for a third time a couple of weeks back and it was the Diamond that got the win.
Diaz wasn’t all that impressed by the outing and had a go at McGregor for changing up his attitude ahead of the fight:
“I think Dustin Poirier was owned the whole way through and Conor dropped the ball.
“I just thought it was a big old joke, honestly. He was switching up his whole role and playing Mr. Nice Guy but he was owning Dustin, the way Dustin was just doing he’s told the whole way through.
“It was kind of corny, kind of funny to me. Then, I think, Conor had it going and I think he fell back to his same ways and went in there.
“I think he got more than Dustin did anything good, you know.”
While many have lauded Poirier for the use of some kicks to take McGregor down, Diaz wasn’t of the same thinking.
The UFC star believed that McGregor was the one making the mistakes:
“I think it was less of Dustin doing anything great and more of Conor, that’s my personal opinion.”
He added that McGregor has been making the same mistakes and hasn’t learned from them. While McGregor vs Poirier 3 is in the works, Diaz has no wish of fighting in the 155 division.
The 35-year-old claimed that the Lightweight division is dead and he didn’t have to prove anything to anyone there.
Diaz wants a shot at the 170 division and was only looking to fight people in that weight class or slightly above it.
McGregor, for his part, isn’t looking to be Mr Nice Guy any more either. It was a different side of McGregor that the UFC saw before the third Poirier fight.
However, the Irishman is gearing up to be his normal self and correct things in his next fight.
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