Conor McGregor gives his opinion on the historic Nick Diaz vs Paul Daley fight
Conor McGregor highly appreciates the StrikeForce bout between Nick Diaz and Paul Daley that took place on April 9, 2011, exactly ten years ago. The Notorious One showed his appreciation for the historic one-rounder in a reply to MMA reporter Chamatkar Sandhu's post.
'Incredible bout!' Conor McGregor Tweeted.
The tweet was an interesting response from McGregor considering the Irishman's longstanding beef with the Diaz brothers, courtesy of his competitive rivalry with the younger Diaz sibling, Nate.
Nick Diaz defended his Strikeforce welterweight title against hard-hitting Brit Paul Daley in the main event of Strikeforce: Diaz vs Daley on April 9, 2011. The bout marked Diaz's third and final successful title defense in the now-defunct MMA promotion.
Both Diaz and Daley started strong and hurt each other on multiple occasions. However, the fast pace took its toll on the power puncher in Paul Daley later in the first round. Known for his high pace and volume striking, Nick Diaz swarmed his opponent to earn the TKO win at the 4:57 mark of the very first round.
Diaz became the first StrikeForce welterweight champion to defend the title three consecutive times with the win over Paul Daley.
Conor McGregor's opinion on the bout is natural as the Irishman is highly appreciative of striking contests and highlight-reel finishes. The Irishman has been a part of a few back-and-forth stand-up fights himself and produced some of the best highlight-reel finishes in his career.
Conor McGregor has a less than cordial relationship with Nick Diaz
Conor McGregor tasted his first UFC defeat at the hands of Nate Diaz at UFC 196 in March 2016. His competitive rivalry with the Stockton native has produced one of the highest-selling pay-per-view events in MMA history.
Right from the build-up of their first fight all the way to the infamous bottle-throwing incident for the UFC 202 pre-fight press conference, McGregor and Diaz have left no stone unturned in expressing their hatred towards each other.
Although McGregor never had a confrontation with Nick Diaz, the two came really close to a fistfight during the UFC 196 pre-fight conference. When Conor McGregor pushed Nate Diaz during the face-off, Nick Diaz and the entire Stockton clan swarmed the stage to attack McGregor.
However, the unpleasant incident was avoided by the timely intervention of the security team.
While Conor McGregor is still active in the competitive sphere of MMA, Nick Diaz has not competed in MMA since his unanimous decision loss to Anderson Silva in 2015. Diaz's manager Kevin Mubenga teased his return to competition in late 2020. However, there has been no further development on the matter.