Diaz says "If I had the push that McGregor had."

  Nate Diaz, while in the limelight reference incognito "the push" McGregor has had in his career that propelled him into another weight class for another title opportunity. Diaz, following his 3rd round submission of Conor McGregor, snapping his 15-fight win streak, during the UFC 196 Post-Fight Conference was undoubtedly referring to the UFC and Zuffa administration support of McGregor's move up from Featherweight in search of more attention and capital, robbing Jose Aldo, who was unbeaten for 10 years prior to his UFC 194 KO loss to McGregor, of his opportunity for a rematch. Also, awaiting titles in the UFC Featherweight division, which has caused a logjam due to the UFC's support of McGregor, is Frankie Edgar (on a 5-fight win streak), Max Holloway (on an 8-fight win streak) and Raphael Assuncao (on a 7-fight win streak.) With a division so stacked, the only reason McGregor would have been allowed to stray from his obligation to defend his title (as the saying goes "You're not a true champion unless you've defended your title") and fall into the opportunity of a superfight.


  Dana White and the UFC's campaign against the Diaz brothers are well-known; they are brash, have a history with marijuana use and tend to say the truth while White prefers to censor what he believes should be said or heard. Drug use is a problem in every sport yet when Jon Jones, who has not fought since his suspension due to a hit and run incident in New Mexico and testing positive for cocaine following his title defense against Daniel Cormier at UFC 182. What remains to be seen is not who is worthy but who is profitable. Jon Jones inactivity is only due to his criminal mischief and he remains to be the #1 Pound-for-Pound fighter even though Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson, the only and current UFC Flyweight champion has defended his title twice and has swept through 4 of the top 15 fighters in his division. Jon Jones's last fight at UFC 182 brought in $3,700,000.00 in sales while Demetrious Johnson's last two headliners and title defenses at UFC 186 and 191 brought in a total of $2,030,700.00 while the latest fight UFC 196 brought in $8,100,000.00. If the profit isn't there, fans won't see the humble fighters who deserve title shots over those who are brash,  loud and take to social media to decimate their opponent's character. In the words of Floyd Mayweather, "If it aint about money then what the hell is it about?"

  What is clear is that Dana White is one of the co-founders who took over the UFC while it was in financial ruins and he can be credited on its comeback and continued success. The question is what can Nate Diaz do to make himself more profitable? What can Dominick Cruz do to make himself more profitable? The fans and the media must take to the competitive nature of fighters and the best way to do that is to allow them to feed into the stereotype of the fighter, which is always been believe to be bare animal instinct, humanness without finesse, without evolution. The public ignores humble individuals unless they are rich and famous and say cliche things, they rally to see animals in conflict. Just watch documentaries of National Geographic.

All respect must be given to Nate Diaz for his outward speech. McGregor wasn't humble in the sense people believe, he slightly made excuses for himself and his loss by stating that Diaz was the heavier guy and that he was more efficient with his energy. Diaz, not to be hushed, returned, calling him out, saying that he was the more effective boxer and all around mixed martial artist, which coming into this fight, all those who know mma, knew that McGregor has a very huge deficiency on the ground, tallying his 3 losses up via 3 submissions.

What's Next for Conor McGregor?

 Following his recent one-sided second round submission loss to Nate Diaz, it has become apparent to all McGregor bandwagoners that he is not invincible. So what is next on the agenda for McGregor?

It is obvious that now that he has failed in his attempt to secure a Catchweight win that he will not face Lightweight Champion Rapheal Dos Anjos, who withdrew from UFC 196 following an injury nor will he be able to move up to Welterweight and challenge the now king of the division Robbie Lawler. The only thing left for McGregor is to return to Featherweight and defend the title he should have defended before moving up another weight class.


 Yet the move up was not solely his responsibility or desire, he was allowed to do so by the UFC being that he was billed as "the Mayweather of MMA" predicting that he would bring is much more money and attention to the sport if he were involved in a superfight and became the first UFC Champion to hold multiple belts at one time. McGregor now 19-3, all his losses coming by way of submission due to his lack of a ground game, must now return to a not-so-pleasant division where awaiting him is the Featherweight #1 contender Frankie Edgar, who has a very well known submission prowess. In line behind him is Max Holloway (15-3), whom McGregor defeated at UFC Fight Night 26 via unanimous decision and since has gone on to win 8 straight wins in a very competitive and talented division.

Before the UFC again bills a fighter as the next best thing, they must make sure he is an all-around fighter who can withstand ground attacks; after all, this is Mixed Martial Arts and McGregor's fall is representation of susceptibility.

[Valhalla] On the Rise of Conor McGregor and the Warrior-Scholar

The UFC Featherweight division has not know complacency since the influx of Ireland's debut of Conor McGregor, perhaps the best fighter to ever invade North Am

erica in this 21st century. Known for his brash and quarrelsome cockiness, "Notorious" is set to meet Germany's Dennis Siver at UFC Fight Night 59 in Boston, the biggest  city of Irish descendancy in America, determined to put on a display of yet another perilous finish.

Killer instinct admixed with an unvarying confidence, the warrior-scholar is determinate proof that one who evolves mentally evolve physically; till this date, with 4 consecutive UFC wins and on a 9 fight win streak in his career, no one has given the Irishman a true challenge. All obstacles presented thus far, namely Diego Brandao and Dustin Poirer, have been decimated in the first round. With those two previous victories, McGregor has not only opened the ears to the public with his arrogance tirade, he has opened the eyes of all Featherweights jousting for position to get a shot at the only UFC Featherweight Champion, Featherweight king and #2 pound for pound mixed martial artist in the world, Jose Aldo.

Literature and music has been known to open the dimensions of the mind, to allow the brain's capacity to roam to thoughts and ideas that have never occured to us in our everyday lives. The mind itself feels no pain so it has nothing to lose in the process of becoming; it is a one-way relationship between learning and devolving. What we see in McGregor is not only such evolution but a painstaking similarity to such fighters as Ruben "Hurricane" Carter in his first bout of incarceration, Muhammad Ali in his conversion to Islam, Joe Louis in his rematch with Max Schmeling, Jersey Joe Walcott in his 5 retirements and 4 title bouts before he finally claimed the heavyweight title. There is nothing more dangerous in this world than a mind whole, a shadow aware of its own, the double of a personality working in tandem with another.

Also, what greater threat an evolved mind accomplishes, is to frightened the lesser evolved mind. Diego Brandao's physical deficit led to his mental break and his subsequent fold to McGregor at UFC Fight Night 46 in Dublin, Ireland. The physical grind alone of Dustin Poirer, the lassitude invited by it, along with the fury of being labeled  a coward by McGregor, led to his first round decimation at UFC 178. McGregor isn't the only fighter to employ his mind to the fight before the fight is set; Muhammad Ali, before being known as "The Greatest" was labeled the "Louisville Lip" when he was Cassius Clay due to his rants and disgracing his opponents, Floyd "Money" Mayweather himself has the talent to hit his opponents personally, professionally and financially to degrade their mental capacity for the endeavor to overcome another athlete and Mike Tyson's personality alone was a hallmark that stymied his opponents before he could land his destructive powershots. After a lengthy layoff, Joe Frazier was finally able to slow the momentum of Ali, no one has yet to figure out how to deal with "Money" Mayweather, though a meager challenge from Manny Pacquiao is impending on May 2nd; will McGregor be the next fighter to reach a level that cannot be toppled?

A win of Siver at UFC Fight Night 59 will likely take McGregor to the #1 contender slot, making him the 3rd undefeated #1 contender in the UFC in line for a title after the Lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov and Women's Bantamweight Cat Zingano. He has climbed the ranks of the best in the world in a matter of 4 fights, predicting, demolishing, putting all on the line as though he has predicted what is to come.