Watch emotional footage from Conor McGregor’s dressing room after UFC 196 loss to Nate Diaz five years ago – ‘I p****** out’
When Nate Diaz submitted Conor McGregor at UFC 196 on March 5 in 2016, there was a seismic shift felt around the world of MMA.
The poster boy of the largest company in the fastest growing sport in the world who, until this point, seemed completely unbeatable had been dethroned.
Less than three months after knocking out pound-for-pound great Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds, McGregor found himself chasing a second UFC belt having claimed the Brazilian’s featherweight title.
Rafael dos Anjos was in possession of the belt at 155lbs, with McGregor heading straight up to replicate his previous success with Cage Warriors in 2012.
However, Dos Anjos was forced to pull out of the injury at late notice and the Irishman found himself once again having to fight a last minute replacement.
After gaining the interim 145lbs strap against Chad Mendes, he would face a completely different beast entirely in Nate Diaz.
The Stockton-native had produced one of the greatest call-outs in UFC history shortly after dismantling Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and put himself in the frame for a shot at the cash cow of the company.
Although there were just 11 days between the bout being confirmed and the first bell, McGregor and Diaz produced magic when pitted against each other at media days and the weigh-ins.
The weight was perhaps the biggest talking point of the bout, with the featherweight champion completely leapfrogging the lightweight division to take on Diaz at welterweight.
Although McGregor was always large at 145lbs, the decision to add on an extra 25lbs would prove costly.
Amidst a sold-out crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, McGregor set on his opponent instantly, lighting Diaz up with powerful left hands to both head and body.
Before long, Diaz bore his trademark battle scars as blood poured from a laceration above his left eye.
McGregor pushed for a finish, but found the much-bigger man to be more difficult to dispatch than featherweight foes. In the second round, the champion’s stamina issues came to light as his over-exertion in looking for a finish proved costly.
Diaz began to find a home of his own for the left hand and, when the two men engaged in a scramble on the ground, locked in a rear naked choke and shocked the world.
As the UFC’s latest star lapped up the adulation of the crowd and began to celebrate long into the night, McGregor was left to savour his first ever defeat inside the octagon.
The Irishman trudged back to the dressing room in the bowels of the iconic stadium and was left to reflect on what might have been had he been more conservative with his energy.
Girlfriend Dee Devlin was joined by McGregor’s mother and father as well as his manager, Audie Attar and he offered no excuses for the defeat.
During the film, Notorious, an inconsolable McGregor can be seen trying to process what had just happened and admitted the larger man proved too tough for him.
“I was slipping and banging that left hand,” he said. “Then like a load of times it came short as well.
“At one stage I caught him with a clean uppercut but he was just always there in me face.
“I p****** out I did. I p****** out of my breath… It is what it is, ya win some ya lose some… he can take a few smacks he can the c***.”
Of course, McGregor would go on to exact his revenge in a rematch at UFC 202 at welterweight again to cement his reputation as one of the very best in the world.
Yet the significance of his first ever defeat and the commendable way in which he handled the loss no doubt enhanced his worldwide reputation.
Although he was a superstar on his way to bigger and better things, his downfall humanised him and made him more relatable. The comeback was also spectacular as he finished 2016 as the first ever ‘double champ’ in UFC history after knocking out Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205.
Having started 2021 with a defeat and with a summer rematch in the works against Dustin Poirier, who would back against ‘The Notorious’ from repeating history?