"Surprise, surprise, motherfucker," Conor McGregor yelled at the end of his fight against Nate Diaz at UFC 202 in Las Vegas on Saturday night. "The king is back!"
A little more than five months after McGregor lost to Diaz at UFC 196 by submission, the outspoken MMA fighter was able to withstand a flurry of attacks from Diaz to win by decision at UFC 202. But it certainly wasn’t easy.
McGregor dominated most of the first two rounds of the fight. He landed a series of kicks to Diaz’s legs and appeared to have Diaz exactly where he wanted him. He even knocked Diaz down several times:
But after falling behind early in the fight, Diaz rebounded to take control of it in the third round and, at one point, it looked like he was going to be too much for McGregor to handle:
McGregor seemed to catch a second wind in the fourth round of the fight, though, and he was able to regain control of the match:
But neither man conceded in the fifth and final round, and McGregor was eventually awarded a very tight decision with one judge scoring the fight 48-47 McGregor, another scoring it 47-47, and the third one scoring it 48-47 in McGregor’s favor.
That led to McGregor’s NSFW post-fight celebration:
It also led to more than a few people wishing the fight could have gone on for at least a few more rounds. Here’s how Twitter reacted at the end of the fight, which is already being hailed as a classic by many of those who watched it:
Fortunately, this won’t be the last time we see McGregor and Diaz in the same Octagon. Following the fight, both fighters said they would be open to a third bout—McGregor said he wants the fight to take place at 155 pounds—and despite losing, Diaz already sounds like he’s prepared to get back into the Octagon with his rival.
"I’m ready to go again," he said in his post-fight interview. "Fuck that."
Put the match on the schedule right now, Dana White. Until then...
