When the first match-up was announced, everyone rightfully said this was a BS fight and Diaz did not deserve it.
Not only was Diaz on vacation while McGregor had been training for months in various locations, but it was at a time when Nate was only 2-3 in his last 5-fights and barely hanging on to a top-10 ranking after beating Micheal Johnson.
Now all over the media and greater Sherdog area, I see Diaz being hailed as some top-5 fighter who is going to destroy Conor again, this is exactly what the UFC wanted, now what should have been seen as a generally lame-duck opponent for a reigning champion becomes a heroic victory for Conor, with a likely trilogy in the making no less.
But, when you look at the facts Diaz is a mediocre fighter who is basically a perennial gatekeeper, and if Conor really is a championship level fighter he should dispatch him with ease.
Let's look at his last 5 fights before Conor:
W - Micheal Johnson - Coming of a lame loss to Beneil Dariush, but easily his best win of the bunch. Ranked in the top-15.
L - RDA - Absolutely embarrassed Diaz, probably one of the most one-sided fights in history, Diaz also didn't even bother to make weight.
W - Maynard - Coming off a vicious KO loss, in the middle of the downturn of his career, unranked.
L - Josh Thompson - Coming off a loss and Josh's only victory in his UFC stint and he clobbered Diaz, lost 3-straight afterwards and went to Bellator, unranked
L - Ben Henderson - One of the most one-sided title fights in history, Diaz offered no offense and got beatdown for 5-rounds.
In short, Diaz hasn't beaten anyone coming off a victory before Conor since 2012, he's only had one top-15 victory in that time span, and he has lost to guys who did absolutely nothing in the UFC like Thompson.
Yet when Conor goes in and beats him like he should have in the first place, the UFC/Conor and all his fans are going to act like he took down a top-5 world beater. If Conor does lose again I say that speaks more to his legacy as a fighter than it does Nate Diaz and if he gets a title shot he'll be promptly beatdown again by Alvarez, Woodley, or whoever is champion at the time.
Don't buy the narrative, Diaz-Conor is still a lame match-up that reminds me of when Anderson Silva went up and fought gatekeepers at 205, it should be an easy victory.