Next Saturday, in what will be the biggest rematch in Mixed Martial Arts history the man of the moment Conor McGregor will aim to avenge his loss to Nate Diaz as UFC 202 goes down in the Entertainment Capital of the World, Las Vegas, Nevada.
It was on March 5th this year at UFC 196 that the seemingly untouchable Irishman was defeated via rear-naked choke in the second round by the American.
The bout was never originally planned mind you - McGregor (who is the reigning Featherweight Champion) was expected to challenge UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos for the Brazilians title, but dos Anjos pulled out due to a broken foot only 11 days before the event. Diaz eventually replaced him and the bout was shifted up again to the welterweight division, and the rest as they say is history.
This set up a rematch that was scheduled to headline the biggest show in the history of the company at UFC 200, however in a massive turn of events McGregor announced his retirement from the sport after a falling out with UFC management some 11 weeks before the event. He reversed his decision in the days that followed, but the match was not re added to the 200 card.
Both fighters claim weren’t best prepared for the original fight – with McGregor moving up 2 weight divisions, and Diaz competing despite not even having a prior training camp - but this time around there can be no excuses, as there has been well over 5 months since their last fight.
The fight build up and press conferences has already proved entertaining – McGregor is the best self-promoter, and fight hyper, and general antagonist in the world of sports, and Diaz is a man of few words, and when he does speak most can’t be repeated on here.
As always the Irish community is expected to support their fighter in great numbers. The event is set to be a 18,000 plus sell out at the T-Mobile Arena, as it was for UFC 200 which was held in the same venue.
The event is set to start at 11:30pm on August 20th, with the 5-fight main card taking place at 3am so get ready for a late one. It is sure to be worth it though.
For more information please head on over to the official UFC website here.