Conor McGregor is always good for sound-byte no matter the opponent, and he added several on Wednesday for Nate Diaz ahead of UFC 196.
“I like Nick’s little bro. How can you not like him?” McGregor riffed after the two exchanged several “f*** you” exclamations to one another. “He’s like a little cholo gangster from the hood but at the same time he coaches kids jiu-jitsu on a Sunday morning and goes on bike rides with the elderly. He makes gun signs with the right hand and animal balloons with the left hand. You’re a credit to your community.”
Despite the barbs back and forth, McGregor expressed a general respect for Diaz as a fighter, despite still calling for a quick finish next Saturday in Las Vegas.
“End of the first, I feel he will be put away,” McGregor said. “I respect Nate. Don’t get me wrong, I do respect Nate. There are a lot of pussies in this game and he is not one of them. Don’t get me wrong. There’s a respect there between us, but it’s business in there. And business is business. He will be KO’d inside the first round.
“I feel his repetitive foot patterns and his poor motions are too readable, too predictable. He’ll be too slow in there. His speed will stifle him. His soft body and his lack of preparation, he will not be able to handle the ferocity.”
Penick’s Analysis: McGregor and Diaz is already a much more fun fight than the title fight between McGregor and dos Anjos could have been. It’s only a shame we’ve got ten days rather than three months to build it up, because Diaz is a fighter not the least bit intimidated by McGregor’s verbal game. He’s willing to give back – perhaps less eloquently – but he doesn’t care at all what’s said about him, and he’ll go in there next Saturday willing to either kick McGregor’s ass or get his ass kicked trying, and that’s going to have a whole lot of people interested in tuning in.
[Photo (c) Gary A. Vasquez via USA Today Sports]
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