Every all-time great needs a nemesis.
Anderson Silva was one of the most fascinatingly skilled virtuosi to sign a UFC bout agreement but he required Chael Sonnen to put him over as an unmissable performer.
Fans were growing weary of Jon Jones’ dominance over all challengers before Daniel Cormier slammed his way into light heavyweight contention, put his hands on the throat of ‘Bones’ and solidified his status as the greatest rival for Jones’ throne.
A young GSP cried out for Matt Hughes and, in boxing, Muhammad Ali required Joe Frazier in the same way that ‘Sugar’ Ray Robinson needed Jake LaMotta.
Jose Aldo was in dire need of a Conor McGregor to garner the appropriate attention his talent warranted but, in all honesty, McGregor could do very little with Aldo once he dethroned the Brazilian legend.
Every all-time great needs a nemesis.
McGregor is not yet an all-time great but we could be looking at the early scribbles of a longstanding legacy and, in the role of antagonist, Nate Diaz will do just fine.
In fact, you’d have been hard done by to pick a more fitting foe for ‘The Notorious’ prior to their initial UFC 196 meeting.
As long ago as 2012, McGregor had jokingly been referred to as ‘Mick Diaz’ as his dismissive striking and in-cage antics were not dissimilar to the demeanour of the Stockton siblings who had made a name for themselves by burrowing holes deep into their opponents’ heads.
McGregor’s mind games were made his own but it would be foolish to deny that the early development of his style was not informed by the Diaz brothers and their shenanigans.
The storyline was almost too perfect. McGregor, the UFC’s golden boy, quickly overtook the Diaz brothers in terms of popularity, earning potential and drawing power. Nate Diaz, reduced to an inconsistent force in the UFC’s lightweight division, set up the match-up perfectly by doing something that nobody present at the now-infamous Go Big press conference had the foresight to do.
He cut a promo…. He cut a hell of a promo.
Diaz made sure that he would be the most sellable replacement for the UFC should any future opponent of McGregor pull out and, lo and behold, Rafael dos Anjos broke his foot.
We all know what happened at UFC 196 and the fact that Diaz will forever be known as the first man to overturn the Irishman in the Octagon, coupled with the fact that their trash talk has become the stuff of legend, lends itself to a lengthy rivalry.
Nobody in Conor McGregor’s more comfortable stronghold of featherweight had the potential to become the foil to the loudest mouth in MMA history.
Sure, McGregor can rematch Jose Aldo and go to a trilogy if the Brazilian wins. But there will be no spark there as Aldo remains a combination of stoically disinterested and dreadfully unequipped to match McGregor’s fight-hyping.
If we’ve learned anything from this week, it’s that Diaz knows better than anybody how to sell 25 minutes of face-punching.
UFC 202 was in danger of passing many by, in terms of attendance and PPV buys, as there seemed to be little to no buzz as recently as Monday.
Diaz’s storm-off, and subsequent role in the bottle-throwing chaos that brought Wednesday’s press conference to a close, has thrust a bright reminder into the public consciousness that the most anticipated rematch in UFC history is on the horizon.
That’s why the UFC brass, as well as McGregor and Diaz, won’t be too upset by any fines imposed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission as they will view them as a simple investment on the ultimate pay-per-view return.
Diaz storms out of #ufc202 presser, starts throwing bottles. McGregor returns fire. pic.twitter.com/J7D3hngMWC
— Darragh Murphy (@DarrMurphy) August 17, 2016
Aldo, Max Holloway and Eddie Alvarez aren’t capable of doing what Diaz did and make it look believable.
Those three names are, of course, capable of being the see to McGregor’s saw in any rivalry but they don’t have the attitude necessary to bring fights up to that unmissable standard.
Nor do those names possess the ability to pick up the slack left by the Dubliner in his media silence during the most immersive training camp of his career.
If McGregor had decided to award Aldo a rematch this summer and go through the same intense training regime that led to fewer media appearances, the former 145 lbs kingpin simply wouldn’t have the personality to stand in in his stead.
McGregor needed Diaz in these past few months and Diaz delivered. He did the heavy-lifting in the promotion of the main event of UFC 202 and did ‘The Notorious’ a massive favour in the process.
The hardcore fans will always tune in to see the clashing of technique and skill-sets but it takes a collision of big personalities to grip the casuals.
Conor McGregor is must-see television at the worst of times but having someone like Nate Diaz standing opposite him on a Saturday night in Las Vegas is a whole new level of stimulating.
Whatever McGregor’s net worth was at the start of the year, Diaz has multiplied it and if the duel is brought to 1-1 then we’re in for the most lucrative realisation of a trilogy in the history of the Octagon.
Even if Dublin’s iteration of a Diaz falls to 0-2 against The Ultimate Fighter 5 winner, don’t be at all surprised to see a third fight down the line. Hell, BJ Penn lost three times to Frankie Edgar.
In 2016, belts have never been more irrelevant in terms of big money match-ups.
Titles have become secondary to super-fights and the feud between Diaz and McGregor is set to make the pair an awful lot of money.
Not only that but if McGregor manages to get that defeat back then it will arguably be his greatest achievement in his career and he will be staring down the barrel of an unprecedented payday.
Every all-time great needs a nemesis.
And Conor McGregor could never have dreamed of a more suitable adversary than Nathan Diaz.
