UFC on FOX 17 Results: Nate Diaz Picks Apart Michael Johnson, Calls Out Conor McGregor

Neither Michael Johnson nor Nate Diaz headed into Saturday night’s UFC on FOX 17 lightweight fight with any hopes that a victory would be accompanied by a title shot, especially with Conor McGregor sounding like he wants a shot at the belt.

Johnson last fought in August, when a split-decision loss to Beneil Dariush ended a four-fight winning streak that had him barreling towards title contention. Saturday night marked just over a year since Diaz had even set foot in the Octagon, having lost to Rafael dos Anjos in his last fight in December of 2014.

With a bit of a dust-up between the two at the fighter host hotel earlier in the week, Johnson and Diaz were mostly fighting for pride.

Johnson started strong, setting the pace with an aggressive strategy, trying to bridge Diaz’s reach advantage with low kicks and follow-up punches. It worked well in the opening round, where Diaz was content to hang back and counterpunch for the better part of the five minutes.

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Round two, however, saw a big change from Diaz, who opened up with his jab, and did a much better job using his range to pick Johnson apart. It was a close fight all the way through, but Diaz seemed to gain momentum as the fight wore on, his jab creating opening’s for a strong one-two combination that he landed numerous times.

Johnson never went away and kept trying to bridge the gap, but often ran smack into Diaz’s jab, which constantly snapped his head back.

The pace remained high through the final round, but it was Diaz that was a step ahead of Johnson until the final horn.

Diaz picked up a unanimous nod from the judges, improving his record to 18-10, and giving him his first victory in the Octagon since November of 2013.

Diaz called out McGregor in his post-fight interview in the Octagon, but it was so F-bomb laden that barely a word made it onto network television with the fight airing on FOX.