Conor McGregor keeping options open after Nate Diaz triumph

Referring to the shots that Diaz seemingly absorbed without feeling much pain in the later rounds, with the American looking unruffled as he tried to take the fight to the floor, McGregor added: ” He took them better than I expected.

“I came up to 170, faced the bigger man and overcame my adversity”.

Immediately after beating Rafael Dos Anjos for the UFC lightweight title last month, Eddie Alvarez was already hopeful that his first title defense would come against Conor McGregor – not because the latter is arguably the biggest star in the sport, but because the new champ thought Dana White and Co. owed him an easy fight after three straight wins over some of the best in his weight class. And even if Diaz turns down the fight, Dana White has previously said that after the rematch McGregor would return to defend his featherweight title. “I knew what I had to do this time around and I did it”.

The Irishman took down Diaz twice more in the second round, bloodying his nose and appearing to have total control of the fight.

“I knew he would have success early”, Diaz said.

“It’s hard for my fans to come over here for fights and I understand that”.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission released the information on Saturday and it also revealed that Nate Diaz will earn a minimum of $2 million for the fight as well. Then Diaz dominated the second round with accurate, well-timed boxing before finishing the exhausted McGregor with a rear naked choke.

Johnson (22-5) flattened Teixeira with the shot, forcing the referee to call an early end to the fight.

They are again fighting at welterweight, with McGregor planning to drop back down to lightweight following the bout win or lose. Johnson got his 13th victory in his past 14 fights and put himself in position to challenge for the title. However the promotions has announced that the UFC 202 post-fight press conference has been canceled.

Donald Cerrone (31-7) got an impressive knockout victory over Rick Story (19-9) in a battle of ranked welterweights.