UFC 196: Conor McGregor stunned by Nate Diaz – as it happened – The Guardian

Tonight in Las Vegas, Irish star Conor McGregor was scheduled to fight for history. Two UFC titles around one waist. That was the 27-year-old’s intention as he pushed his promoter, Zuffa, to a place it had never gone before.

McGregor captured the featherweight belt from long-reigning José Aldo in 13 seconds late last year. It was an incredible thing to witness – timing, speed and power meeting a moment – and a massive moneymaker for the UFC and Mystic Mac, who has called many of his shots. Off the strength of his results and charisma, UFC heeded McGregor’s call and matched its 145lb champion against its 155lb champion, Rafael dos Anjos, with the lightweight belt on the line.

It looked very much like McGregor asked for and received the toughest challenge he could find, a highly admirable trait among champion prizefighters, and then the rock steady Brazilian cracked his left foot on the knee of a sparring partner 15 days before the 5 March pay-per-view contest at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

One day after news broke that Dos Anjos couldn’t compete, the UFC nimbly salvaged McGregor’s spot on the card by announcing he would fight Nate Diaz 25lbs above his championship weight. Diaz has already fought at welterweight several times, and is the naturally bigger guy. Unquestionably the switch in opponent remains a significant test for McGregor, who is likely to be next to challenge welterweight champion Robbie Lawler, possibly this summer at UFC 200, if action falls in his favor on the weekend. If it does not, McGregor may have to forget scaling weight classes for a stretch and retreat to featherweight, where a hard weight cut once again becomes an issue.