Frankie Edgar Thinks Nate Diaz Can Spoil Conor McGregor’s Party

In an interview with MMA Fighting, Frankie Edgar spoke about Nate Diaz’s chances in his welterweight fight against Conor McGregor at UFC 196. Here are highlights:

On Diaz’s chances against McGregor: “I don’t know, man, I think Nate could go in there and spoil the party, and then [McGregor] has to come back down to 145. I think that’s best case scenario. I give him a real shot. His pressure and volume is just tough to deal with for anybody. You know, Conor’s biggest thing is range and length, and he doesn’t have it in this fight. A southpaw against southpaw, I think a lot could happen there.”

On recovering from his torn groin: “The first week, I was having a hard time sitting on the toilet. But it got better and I like to stay doing something. I have to stay doing something because I’ll go crazy. I’m just doing what I can. Obviously I can’t roll, I can’t wrestle, I can’t spar. I can hit mitts a little bit and I’ve been lifting weights. I’m just doing what I can do to keep somewhat in shape. To be honest, I’m kind of surprised by how long this is keeping me out. Most of my injuries in the past have been overuse injuries, bulged disc, nerve pain. This is actually something that actually happened, where it popped. I thought I’d be well more ahead than where I am now, because again, I don’t like to be stagnant too long. So I thought I’d be back training a little more than I am, but you know, that’s the way that it goes.”

On not accepting a fight with McGregor on short notice: “[The fight] was up at 155. I just thought RDA, he’s been looking great lately. Obviously we share the same manager, and from what I understood, everything was going great and I wasn’t really banking on me even getting a call. That’s kind of what pissed me off too, I’m sitting here recovering from injury and people are looking down at me because I didn’t take the fight on 10 days’ notice at a weight class I’m not even in, for not even the title. That’s kind of what got under my skin.”