Conor Mcgregor full of praise for Nate Diaz ahead of last UFC fight

Prior to his probable final UFC fight, Conor McGregor had nothing but love for his longtime foe and "bonafide superstar," Nate Diaz. Diaz (20-13 MMA, 15-11 UFC) will battle Tony Ferguson (25-7 MMA, 15-5 UFC) on Saturday night at UFC 279 in a welterweight main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to see out the remaining fight on his current contract.

Diaz's journey to this point hasn't been simple. To the verge of free agency, he had to maneuver through UFC strategies, get demoted to the sidelines, and be given absurd matchups. At UFC 279, he was scheduled to face Khamzat Chimaev, an undefeated wrecking ball, but the bout was moved after Chimaev missed weight by 7.5 pounds.

Mcgregor and Diaz have mutual respect for each other as they shared the octagon back in 2016 at UFC 196 and UFC 202. The first time they met Nate Diaz secured a win over a then unstoppable Conor Mcgregor by submitting in the second round of the fight. Since that fight Nate Diaz became a global superstar and has the ability to draw attention whenever he steps foot inside the octagon. However, Conor Mcgregor avenged his loss at UFC 202 when the fight went full 5 rounds and they went to a decision. The second bout was a really close fight which could have gone either way. That fight also caused Diaz’s stock to rise even higher.

Conor Mcgregor also had some salty words for Khamzat Chimaev and he thinks that ‘Borz’ should have been pulled from the card entirely instead of being handed a more favorable matchup. He thinks that other fighters might follow this strategy in the future.

The notorious himself is eyeing a return to the octagon in 2023 as he has been regularly training and posting videos of himself working out on social media. He has hinted that his return would be at welterweight as does not intend to cut weight in order to compete at 155lbs.