UFC News 2015: Nate Diaz Says He Was Told Fight With McGregor 'On'; Donald Cerrone Speaks Up After Loss
Former lightweight title contender Nate Diaz says UFC matchmaker Joe Silva gave him the green light to fight current featherweight champion Conor McGregor.
The 30-year-old Stockton, California native and the other half of the infamous "Diaz Brothers" went on a profanity-filled rant on Saturday night at UFC on FOX 17 in Orlando after defeating top contender Michael Johnson via decision.
Diaz once again spoke to MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani after the fight, where he reveals that Silva has indeed granted his request.
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"He said it's on," Diaz said. "He said 'we're gonna do this.'"
Meanwhile, title challenger and 155-pound top contender Donald Cerrone has spoken up after his loss to Rafael dos Anjos during the UFC on FOX 17 main event.
The Brazilian champion, in the first round of their rematch, finished "Cowboy." The first encounter between both men happened in August 2013, where dos Anjos emerged victorious via decision. Cerrone was extremely emotional after the bout, where he believed he failed to "show up" when his opponent did.
In a report by MMA Fighting, the 32-year-old native of Denver, Colorado shared his post-fight emotions.
"He showed up, I didn't. Nature of the beast in this game," Cerrone said in the report. "Hey, what are you gonna do?"
There was a point during the fight when Cerrone was pinned against the cage wall and was on the receiving end of a barrage of punches from dos Anjos. Referee Herb Dean, who was the third man on the Octagon for that fight, let the action carry on, despite the fact that Cerrone was already absorbing too many punches, which, in most cases, already warrants a stoppage.
Seconds before the fight ended, Cerrone was once again placed in the same position where, this time, he was turtled up and dos Anjos was raining down punches from up top.
It was then when Dean put the fight to a halt, at the 1:06 mark of the first round.
While some claim that the fight was stopped prematurely, Cerrone says "it doesn't matter".
"I don't have any control of it. They stopped it," Cerrone said. "[It's] whether I should have been intelligently defending myself, I guess."
