Diaz faced McGregor twice. Photo: Disclosure/UFC
The boxing coach of Nate diaz, Richard Perez, has an explanation for his athlete's loss to Conor McGregor at UFC 202, an event held on August 20, in Las Vegas (USA). According to him, Diaz suffered injuries during his training period, which prevented him from performing at his best in the rematch with the Irishman.
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The second duel between McGregor and Diaz was very close, with good moments for both fighters. After five busy rounds, McGregor won the majority decision from the judges.
For Perez, the injuries did not allow Diaz to prepare adequately. “They were bad [injuries]. His knee was bad and so were his ribs because when he hurt his knee he couldn't run. So when he got a little better, he wanted to start sparring. He wasn't in shape because he didn't manage to train much. Just doing a little gauntlet and a little sparring will improve you a lot. In a training session, he did four hard rounds and was doing well, but he got tired and was hit in the ribs,” he commented, in an interview with the Australian podcast “Submission Radio”.
According to him, the result could have been different if Diaz had had less turbulent training. ”He could not back down from the fight. I know that if he hadn't been hurt, [Nate] would have stopped McGregor and Nate wouldn't have gotten hit like he did in the first round of the first fight. He was sharp, training with guys the size of McGregor, with great boxing, and he was giving them a beating,” he detailed.
With the rivalry tied with one victory for each side, Perez believes that the next logical step for the UFC would be to immediately form a trilogy. “We have unfinished business. This fight needs a third duel. If I were in the UFC, I would say make this happen. Let’s make some more money from this, and then we can let McGregor return to featherweight,” he added.
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