Many are pointing to cardio as the potential decider of the UFC 196 main event.
While Conor McGregor had been training tirelessly for the biggest fight of his life, a lightweight title bout with Rafael dos Anjos, Nate Diaz was out of camp with no opponent lined up.
But for McGregor fans who believe that Diaz has just rolled off the couch and into a main event, think again.
UFC president Dana White has dispelled all rumours that Diaz is not in shape by revealing that the Stockton fighter had been preparing for a triathlon before getting the call to step in and fight ‘The Notorious’ at welterweight.
“Nate Diaz has been training for a triathlon,” White revealed on LA Today. “Nate Diaz is in phenomenal shape right now.
“So he’s not coming in out of shape. He’s in phenomenal shape right now.”
White also confirmed the fighters who had been contacted by the promotion earlier this week as potential opponents for McGregor.
“We called a lot of people,” White said. “Our first choices were Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar. Neither guy could do the fight. Frankie Edgar’s going crazy because I said he couldn’t do the fight. He’s injured. He’s injured and couldn’t take the fight.
“This business is a business of opportunity. When opportunity knocks, you jump on it or you don’t. In a perfect world, you’ve had six to eight weeks to train, you know the guy you’re going to fight and you have no injuries and everything goes perfectly. Nate Diaz and a lot of other guys, too — Urijah Faber was on the list, Anthony Pettis, ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone — but at the end of the day, Nate and Conor really want to fight.”
