One of Nate Diaz’s more incendiary comments during Wednesday’s UFC 196 press conference was the contention that Conor McGregor was on steroids, along with the rest of the UFC’s roster. However, McGregor threw that right back in his face with the factual matter of failed drug tests by Diaz teammates Jake Shields and Gilbert Melendez.
“Don’t be putting my name with steroids,” McGregor said, sniping back shortly thereafter by saying, “I’m not on no steroids; what the f*** are you talking about? Your two boys were on steroids. The Skrap Pack. Remember that? Did you know they were taking that stuff?”
Diaz didn’t seem to care one way or another what anyone was on, other than making the blanket statement. Besides, if he believed that to be the case with McGregor, taking the fight was about the money and the big nature of the fight to begin with.
“They [offered] me a f*** load of money, and you know what I said? I said ‘I want more of that s***,;” Diaz quipped at one point. “How about that motherf***er? Pay me.”
Penick’s Analysis: Again, so much gold traded between the two of them in such a short amount of time it’s hard to unpack it all. It’s a shame McGregor’s not getting his chance to claim a second belt, but at the same time he’s kind of subverting the idea that the belts mean anything at his level of prize fighting. With a fight like this against Diaz next week, it’s not at all about the hardware, it’s about the top draw fighting a man willing to sling verbal barbs back at him, and even on ten days notice this is going to get a ton of people plopping down money to watch on pay-per-view.
[Photo (c) Mark J. Rebilas via USA Today Sports]
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