The overflow crowd that gathered last week at the UFC Gym in Torrance, Calif., had worked itself into a lather.
The fans that showed up clearly weren't bothered by Nate Diaz's 2-3 record in his last five fights or the fact that Conor McGregor is a healthy 5-1 favorite in their five-round welterweight main event on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden in the main event of UFC 196.
Diaz is one of the sport's best trash talkers, but he was badly outdone by McGregor on that night. The best he could do was to drop five F-bombs for every 30 seconds of mic time he got.
Of course, he didn't get much time on the mic because the unpredictable McGregor put together another press conference beauty.
McGregor was asked about his success in mental warfare, but he wanted none of it. Clearly, it irks him that some believe he wins fights with his mouth before the fight even begins.
McGregor is perhaps the ultimate self-made fighter. His coach, John Kavanagh, will go on and on about the passion and dedication McGregor showed as he was on his way up.
It's far more his work ethic than his genes that has led him to the top, McGregor has repeatedly said. And he was miffed when he was asked yet again about his ability to play mind games.
"People always think it's a game, or an act, but when we're in there face-to-face, it's no act and it's no game," McGregor said. "Take out mental warfare. Take out all that. I'm simply the best fighter and that's it."
McGregor is ranked No. 3 pound-for-pound in the official UFC ratings behind Jon Jones and Demetrious Johnson, and after a long run in the UFC that includes impressive victories over the likes of the legendary Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes, Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier, McGregor clearly deserves to at least be in consideration as pound-for-pound best.
He's far more accomplished in the UFC than Diaz, who is 13-8 in the UFC and whose best win was probably his unanimous decision over Donald Cerrone at UFC 141 on Dec. 30, 2011.
Saturday's fight will only be Diaz's third in the last 26 months.
"The UFC has been trying to lowball me forever," Diaz said in an attempt to explain his relative inactivity. "I've been in big-ass shows for how many years? [It was] before this guy [McGregor] even existed."
Though he's a heavy underdog, Diaz's style may cause McGregor fits. Diaz's weakness is against big, burly wrestlers who can take him down and manhandle him and control where the fight is contested.
McGregor is not a wrestler and, like Diaz, is an excellent striker.
Richard Perez, Diaz's striking coach, said during an interview with Submission radio < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v="_EEQukyEdio">that though he respect's McGregor's striking, he believes Diaz is more advanced.
"McGregor is a good striker," Perez said during the interview. "Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying he's not, but Nathan's better. I mean, when Nathan's on his game plan, he'll make him look silly."
Duke Roufus, one of the sport's top striking coaches, said Diaz is a live underdog. He noted that Diaz has a strong chin and said he was positive that McGregor wouldn't intimidate him.
"This is just another day in Stockton for Nate," Roufus said.
Roufus said he feels Diaz is getting the fight at a good time. He said he believes that McGregor may use a plan similar to the one that Carlos Condit used to defeat Nate's older brother, Nick, in 2012: moving, circling and going in and out.
But Roufus said he wouldn't be surprised if Diaz comes out in a right-handed stance. He said in his opinion, it's far closer than many believe it is.
"When Nathan has lost, it's not because those guys have out-struck him," Roufus said. "He had a great performance against Michael Johnson [in December] and the Diaz brothers are always very strong when they take on non-wrestler fighters.
" … Conor has done very well against standard-style strikers, guys who are good, technical strikers. The thing is, Nathan isn't a textbook striker. Him and his brother, with their coach, have a unique style."
Diaz has great range, a punishing jab and constantly pushes forward. His striking is such that he could bother McGregor's rhythm. McGregor correctly anticipated that Aldo would rush him in their featherweight title fight at UFC 194 and throw a winging right.
McGregor sidestepped it and coldcocked Aldo with a left on the chin in one of the most stunning finishes in UFC history. The legendary Aldo, one of the greatest fighters in the sport's history, was knocked cold in just 13 seconds.
Diaz, though, doesn't come forward winging blows and thus doesn't leave himself open. He pops his jab so often and comes behind it occasionally with a cross that it's like Chinese water torture: Drip, drip, drip. At first, it doesn't seem like a problem, but when it occurs again and again, it is frequently an issue.
McGregor is notorious for his seeming soothsaying ability to predict the outcome of a fight, and said he believes he'll finish Diaz early.
"I feel his repetitive foot patterns and poor motions are too predictable, too readable," McGregor said of Diaz. "He's too slow in there. The speed will stifle him. With a soft body and a lack of preparation, he will not be able to handle the ferocity, so end of the first I feel he will be put away.
"I respect Nate. I do. There are a lot of [expletives] in this game and he's not one of them. Don't get me wrong. There's a respect there between us. But it's business in there and business is business. He will be KO'd inside the first round."
But Diaz's only loss by finish in the UFC was a TKO from a head kick by Josh Thomson in 2013, so he's not easily able to be finished.
The stakes are high for McGregor, and he's rightly favored for a number of reasons. But Roufus sounded a word of caution to McGregor fans.
"I really like Conor and what he's done, but MMA is such a unique animal, and so much of this sport is about timing and about styles," he said. "You have to think Conor's going to use his movement and when he can land that hard left hand, he's going to try. But the other thing is, if you bring it to Nate, you actually open yourself up to be hit by Nate, as well. So there are questions both ways, honestly."
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