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411 Fact or Fiction MMA: Does Nate Diaz Need Conor McGregor?

May 10, 2017 | Posted by Lorenzo Vasquez
Nate Diaz Conor McGregor Image Credit: UFC

Welcome back to another edition of 411 Fact or Fiction MMA! I’m your host, Lorenzo Vasquez III, and it is my pleasure to bring you this week’s edition of 411 Fact or Fiction MMA. First and foremost, thank you, for your votes and comments last week. It is appreciated and I encourage to do the same this week. Last week, Dan Plunkett and Dino Zee filled the arena as they tackled Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather negotiations coming to a standstill, Daniel Cormier doubting he can beat Jon Jones, and the ESPN layoffs affecting the UFC’s future television deals. Dan showed up in form, ready to give Dino a run for his money. Dino, however, showed why he’s the best as he countered Dan’s tremendous offensive with thunderous counters. Congratulations, Dino, on your 20-to-13 victory. Thank you, both for your efforts and contribution.

This week, The “Toddfather” returns to battle the gritty, Alex Rella. Expect a grueling affair as these two lock horns over GSP saying he won’t fight until after October, Nate Diaz needing Conor McGregor to sell, Stipe Miocic’s chances of beating JDS, and much more! Go get that grub! Have a seat and get comfortable because it’s time for another round of, 411 Fact or Fiction MMA! Let’s get it on!

TALE OF THE TAPE
RED CORNER
“The Toddfather” Todd Vote
Contributor, Various 411 Zones
5-4-0

VS

BLUE CORNER
Alex “Little Mac” Rella
Contributor, 411 MMA Zone
2-6-0

The recently announced, Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin fight for September 16, is a blow to the potential Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather fight.

Todd Vote: FICTION I don’t see how one affects the other, aside from potentially stealing the date that was penciled for Mayweather vs. McGregor. But I don’t see how that is a big blow, you move the fight. Big deal, right? Mayweather vs. McGregor holds intrigue for much different reasons than Alvarez vs. Triple G, in my opinion.

Alex Rella: FICTION I doubt this date being taken will be the one thing that stops Mayweather vs McGregor from happening. I can see where September would have been an ideal time to give both fighters time to train, but it’s not the end of the world. There are a dozen other factors that might stop the fight from happening, but the date is trivial. I understand wanting to space it from Alvarez vs GGG, this way it has its own time to build up and fans will be willing to spend money on another PPV, but pushing the fight back until November or December will not be the ultimate deal breaker that stop Mayweather vs McGregor from happening. This fight has the same odds of actually happening as it did last week before Alvarez vs GGG was announced.

It would not be a bad idea to have Justin Gaethje make his UFC debut against Edson Barboza.

Todd Vote: FACT Not a bad idea at all. You have a champion from another company coming into the UFC. Why not throw him to the deep end and see how it goes? Top prospects from other companies have been brought in before, and they were given tough fights. Why should Gaethje be different?

Alex Rella: FACT While you can thrown Gaethje up against a few top 10 UFC lightweights, I like this fight a lot. Barboza is a top 5 lightweight on the best run of his career with recent wins against former champs Gilbert Melendez and Anthony Pettis. Gaethje is an undefeated champ and one of the few good things to come out of WSOF. He’s 17-0, held their lightweight title for 3 years, and has impressive stoppage victories over some solid veterans. It’s great for both guys. Barboza has a chance to beat an undefeated champ from another organization and Gaethje can prove he can hang with the truly elite fighters in the UFC. It’s an awesome fight stylistically too. Barboza is one of the best strikers in the sport, but Gaethje is a former All-American wrestler and he has some brutal striking of his own. I really hope this fight happens. Plus with the lightweight division being jammed up right now with the top fighters’ various nonsense, it is possible the winner of this one ends up in the title picture while everyone continues their whining.

If Georges St-Pierre can’t fight until after October it’s time for the UFC to have Michael Bisping defend the middleweight strap against Yoel Romero or Robert Whittaker.

Todd Vote: FACT I may be in the minority here, but I think Bisping should be fighting one of those two anyways. I’m not a fan of the UFC’s practice lately of holding up whole divisions just to make money fights. I get why they are doing it, but I am not a fan.

Alex Rella: FACT Absolutely. If GSP is going to demand to wait that long, it’s time to move on. I won’t repeat how the matchup logged up the division to begin with, but waiting until November is well beyond excessive. I know the UFC was hoping for it to take place in the Summer too. Now there are too many contenders waiting for a title shot. Whittaker, Romero, and Mousasi could all challenge for the belt and having them wait until next year is a bad move for everyone. It’s even a bad move for Bisping. He’s always been active, fighting at least two times a year. Pushing the fight back til November will make it over a year since he last fought against Dan Henderson. Does he want to wait this long to fight? Especially at his age? I understand why Bisping wants to fight GSP, it’s a chance to have a victory against arguably the greatest fighter of all time. Bisping thinks it’ll help cement his legacy, but move on for the time being if GSP is being a diva.

SWITCH!

You have more confidence in Stipe Miocic winning the rematch with Junior dos Santos at UFC 211 than you do of JDS winning.

Alex Rella: FACT I will be absolutely shocked if JDS beats Miocic. Their first fight was a brutal war and JDS did win, but it was the star making performance for Miocic. He rose to occasion and matched the former champ. Since then, their careers have gone in different directions. Miocic has won the title and knocked out Mark Hunt, Arlovski, Werdum, and Overeem. JDS has gone 1-1, getting KTFO by Overeem and winning a decision over Ben Rothwell. JDS isn’t getting this title shot because he’s been killing people lately, it’s because there isn’t anyone else at the top of the division. Francis Ngannou isn’t ready and Cain Velasquez can’t be trusted to be healthy for big fights anymore. JDS is 3-3 over his last 6 and he has taken epic beatings that are uncomfortable to watch in most of those fights. I fully expect Miocic to win here.

Todd Vote: FACT I kind was of the mind that Stipe won their first encounter, but the judges didn’t agree. In the rematch, I expect more of the same, and I see Miocic stopping JDS. Either way, if I was a betting man, my money would be on Stipe

In a boxing match, Nate Diaz would be more competitive against Floyd Mayweather than Conor McGregor would be.

Alex Rella: FICTION There’s no point in trying to analyze who might be better until we see them strictly box. I’ve seen this discussed on other sites and I think it’s just a waste of time. It’s a different sport and the striking is so much different. Sure Conor seems to be a dynamic striker and Nate has that crazy reach he effectively uses, but how would they do when you isolate it from their other strong skills? Nate’s striking matches up well with his elite ground game and Conor’s kicks are just as important in his fights. Taking away those other complementary skills and just making them straight up box- makes them entirely different fighters. I personally think there is no way to guess who would be more competitive against one of the best boxers of all time until we see them straight up box. Sorry for the boring answer.

Todd Vote: FICTION Though, I suppose it depends on how you define success. Diaz’s punches in bunches strategy could give Mayweather a few fits, but I think McGregor’s power is a much bigger threat to Floyd at his age.

While, pairing Nate Diaz’s name with Conor McGregor means big money, this does not necessarily mean Nate Diaz needs Conor McGregor to be a big seller.

Alex Rella: FACT Nate Diaz has been a very good draw for the UFC over the past couple years and I think his selling ability would grow much more even if his next fight isn’t against McGregor. The Diaz brothers have always elicited a strong response in either direction- people love their attitudes or they want to them get knocked out. The UFC has recognized this and used Nate to promote many of their biggest events on FOX. UFC 196 was actually his first time being on a PPV since UFC 141 on 2011. They know Nate brings good ratings. Now that he’s had two record breaking fights against McGregor (one of which he beat the sport’s top star), I’m positive people will want to see how he does next. Nate Diaz will continue to be a top draw even if he never fights McGregor again.

Todd Vote: FACT One thing Diaz needs, to become a big seller, is consistency. Consistency in winning, consistency in fighting, etc. The Diaz brothers are a lot of fun to watch, but they are inconsistent as hell when it comes to being marketable. You can’t market fighters when you aren’t even sure they will show up to the press events and other promotional events. Could Diaz be a big seller? Yes. But it will take more work than I think he wants to put in.

So who won? Did Todd stomp a mudhole in Alex or was Alex to slick to catch? You’ve got until midnight eastern on Saturday to vote, so make sure you make your voice heard!

And that’s it for today but, as always, we’ll be back next week with another contest! And please, be sure to vote!

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