UFC Fight: Why Nate Diaz Beat Champion Connor McGregor

What a great Saturday night! I setup my giant 120″ projector screen in my friend’s yard and we invited a pile of people over to watch the Diaz v. McGregor fight on pay per view. I swear it’s better than actually being there.

What I didn’t know until recently is that McGregor got his butt kicked by a vegan! Nate Diaz has been eating a predominately raw vegan diet since he was 18. McGregor normally fights at 145 lbs, but this fight took place at 170. To go up in weight, McGregor was chowing down on meat. I believe his loss was the direct result of his piss poor diet. John Kavanagh, McGregor’s head coach, is quoted as saying, “Weigh-ins in the morning, weigh-ins at night, that’s all gone… You’ve seen him on salads, now watch him on meat.” Well John, I was watching, and I wasn’t very impressed.

McGregor’s reaction time and endurance was slowed by the excess intra-muscular fat he accumulated. You could clearly see that he was not nearly as lean as he was at 145. McGregor normally fights by playing with is guard to entice his opponents into over-extending themselves on an attack. With his speed at 145, this strategy works because he’s fast enough to dodge the blows and counter-attack. At 170 though, his low guard was a recipe for disaster. In fact, his low guard may have been caused by a lack of energy to keep it up.

In the second round, Diaz got a couple of solid hits in and you could clearly see McGregor begin staggering around. The fight ended shortly thereafter, with Diaz choking a stunned McGregor out. McGregor lasted less than two rounds at around 7 minutes.

McGregor said, “I was inefficient with my energy. I’m humbled in victory and defeat. He took the fight on short notice and done the job. He was efficient. I was not. These things happen. I’ll learn, and I’ll grow. I’ll face it like a man.” - So here we have McGregor openly stating that his energy was spent within one round of fighting.

The meat directly impacts McGregor’s cardio performance. It directly impairs arterial dilation and it directly impairs cellular glucose uptake. Meat is also a pulmonary nightmare, reducing lung function through oxidative-nitrative stress. Assuming all other things equal, a fighter who sticks to a low fat vegan diet is going to have a cardio advantage. I think Diaz made that fact abundantly clear.

I predict Diaz will go on to be a dominating force in the UFC. This is Diaz’s ninth submission win. The only other person to have more wins by submission is Royce Gracie, who had 10. The Gracies are all vegetarian. Diaz is a student of Gracie jujitsu.

a reply to: AnarchoCapitalist

I think if he trained at 170 for an extended period of time he would have won.

Putting on 20 lbs in 2 weeks is madness, and it was still a pretty good fight. But as you said McGregor was visibly fatigued from the 3rd round on.

a reply to: watchitburn

3rd round on?

We shoulda payed more attention to Popeye, huh?

originally posted by: watchitburn
a reply to: AnarchoCapitalist

I think if he trained at 170 for an extended period of time he would have won.

Putting on 20 lbs in 2 weeks is madness, and it was still a pretty good fight. But as you said McGregor was visibly fatigued from the 3rd round on.

Maybe. Diaz initially asked to do the fight at 165 and McGregor told him to meet at 170. So McGregor seemed overly confident that he could beat Diaz at the higher weight regardless of the time constraints.

Now that I know Diaz is vegan, my money will be on him every time.

mmajunkie.com...

a reply to: AnarchoCapitalist

........Umm no.......he didnt get beat because Diaz is vegan...

He got beat because hes not use to taking hits from a heavier opponent, he got beat because he is not use to functioning that long with that much extra weight, and he got beat because hes not use to someone that much heavier being able to shrug off his blows.....

And then he got wrapped up in a ground game

a reply to: AnarchoCapitalist

Now that I know Diaz is vegan, my money will be on him every time.

Good to know, thats your go to reasoning instead of actual ability, and other factors lol

I look forward to making some money!

originally posted by: ManBehindTheMask
a reply to: AnarchoCapitalist

........Umm no.......he didnt get beat because Diaz is vegan...

He got beat because hes not use to taking hits from a heavier opponent, he got beat because he is not use to functioning that long with that much extra weight, and he got beat because hes not use to someone that much heavier being able to shrug off his blows.....

And then he got wrapped up in a ground game

I guess we shall see. I predict Diaz will go on to become a dominating force on the MMA scene. McGregor is better off sticking to his salads.

This is Diaz's ninth submission win of his career, second highest UFC history. He trails only Royce Gracie, who has 10. The Gracies are all vegetarian.

a reply to: AnarchoCapitalist

I was stunned to see him out of energy after the first. He'd adrenaline dumped or something. Second round and he wasn't gassed but looked like muscle fatigue was settling in.

He said it was 'inefficient' moves like the wheel kicks that hit thin air. I think he'd put the pounds on too fast for his cardio to catch up and gambled on the KO off that left.

I wouldn't say it was the diet. It was the mismatch between cardio and weight gain imo. He needed months at 170 to get the cardio right and never thought he'd go the distance. In fact, I bet he didn't roll with lightweight fighters for 5 full rounds.

Better luck next time. Edgar will be hard-core and I hope conor wins there. We'll see huh?

a reply to: Kandinsky

Yeah, we'll see.

The meat directly impacts McGregor's cardio performance. It directly impairs arterial dilation and it directly impairs cellular glucose uptake. It's a pulmonary nightmare. Assuming all other things equal, a fighter who sticks to a low fat vegan diet is going to have a cardio advantage. It's just pure science.

It was stupid to gain that much weight.
He should have insisted that Diaz lose 12 pounds and he would gain 12 pounds.

a reply to: Kandinsky

As someone whose a martial artist myself and also has gotten into body building (I know weird right)

I can tell you that packing on muscle and weight during a building phase, while trying to maintain my normal cardio vascular output levels in the pit can be very very taxing.

Where I could be on the mat and not lose steam, only a month prior, I would be gassed out.

I do Krav and JJ, so the training sessions get pretty intense

It takes a lot of time and a lot of stamina training to compensate for that.

Although I love the OPs enthusiasm, the "vegan" issue has very little to do with this

originally posted by: AnarchoCapitalist
a reply to: Kandinsky

Yeah, we'll see.

The meat directly impacts McGregor's cardio performance. It directly impairs arterial dilation and it directly impairs cellular glucose uptake. It's a pulmonary nightmare. Assuming all other things equal, a fighter who sticks to a low fat vegan diet is going to have a cardio advantage. It's just pure science.

No its not, there are plenty of Vegans in my JJ class who all things considered equal in size with me, do not have the stamina that I do....conversely there are some that can......

Its not a vegan thing, its a training thing, its a stamina thing......

originally posted by: ManBehindTheMask

originally posted by: AnarchoCapitalist
a reply to: Kandinsky

Yeah, we'll see.

The meat directly impacts McGregor's cardio performance. It directly impairs arterial dilation and it directly impairs cellular glucose uptake. It's a pulmonary nightmare. Assuming all other things equal, a fighter who sticks to a low fat vegan diet is going to have a cardio advantage. It's just pure science.

No its not, there are plenty of Vegans in my JJ class who all things considered equal in size with me, do not have the stamina that I do....conversely there are some that can......

Its not a vegan thing, its a training thing, its a stamina thing......

Well that's not an "all other things" equal comparison then. Of course, someone who eats meat and trains 4 hours a day is probably going to beat someone who eats vegan and trains for 2 hours a day, or who doesn't train as hard, or any number of other factors. However, that doesn't change the fact that meat directly impairs arterial dilation, impairs glucose uptake, and causes a host of other cardio-pulmonary issues.

a reply to: AnarchoCapitalist

Which is because of his training, the man was trained by the best in the biz.

Not sure how people can say you need meat for stamina, there is a large number of pro cyclist going Vegan or veggie. There are also a number of other endurance athletes doing the same..

I am 99% veggie and my endurance in sport has gone to the next level, now I am not a professional athlete but I feel my gains would be felt by many people if they made the switch. Before all this I was a meat eater through and through and would have argued till the cows come home that being veggie or vegan was total BS before I tried it.. I am also far far leaner now than I ever was before.

I think we are at the very start of what will be a larger movement over to Vegan diets for athletes I am pretty certain of that, it will be a high carb and suger diet low in fat.



RA

a reply to: slider1982

I'm soooo in agreement.

It's a matter of pure science.

When athletes compete at the top level, even the smallest of advantages can make or break a career. The vegan diet is obviously the optimal choice for top athletic performance. No other diet gets you leaner with better cardio performance than a low fat whole food plant based diet.

a reply to: AnarchoCapitalist

He lost because of the mean 1-2 Diaz laid on him.
I really appreciated Diaz's ability to take some of the punches McGregor put on him.
Connor never regained his balance after the 1-2. You could see that he wasn't confident enough to stand up and fight after that.
That's why he tried to take it to the ground... he was still wobbled from the 1-2 and didn't feel comfortable standing and fighting anymore.
All credit goes to Diaz. He stood in there and ate some serious punches to get the victory.

a reply to: o0oTOPCATo0o

I tend to look beyond that. Obviously the vicious punches Diaz landed are what won the fight. The question is why did McGregor let himself get wacked like that. McGregor said it himself, he got wore out in the first round and his reaction time suffered as a result of it.

So what caused McGregor to get winded within one round of fighting?

His diet. McGregor fought like he always does. His style didn't change.

Lol no OP

The fact he went up two weight classes for this fight is what directly affected the result, not whether or nor he had certain dietary plan.

Don't play into the vegan stereotype