Conor McGregor took the victory in an epic battle against Nate Diaz on Saturday night in Las Vegas, but the Stockton native was not so sure that the decision should have gone the way of the Irishman.
Speaking to the media after the fight, Diaz said that he felt that he'd won a number of the rounds, and that there was no question in his mind that the win was awarded to the wrong fighter.
"I thought I won at least three rounds, I didn't even think that was a question," said Diaz. "Obviously I feel like I could have done better and did some better things.
"I thought I won the fight and then they give it to him. I don't wanna sound bitter because I've gotten paid, it's all good, you know what I'm saying, but he did a lot of running in that fight."
Noting that he and his brother, Nick, have often spoken about points deductions for fighters who avoid mixing it up with their opponents on a constant basis, he believed that McGregor should have been penalised for his tactics.
Image: ©INPHO/Tom Hogan
"He should have gotten a yellow card for that type of thing. He ran the whole fight. You see me chasing him around like that, and pointing saying 'where you going?' He was afraid to engage.
"On top of me winning anyways, I think they should have took points for that which wouldn't have let him win the fight."
Diaz also told the assembled media that he was injured before the fight and that, given he wasn't at 100%, McGregor should have had a much clearer victory.
"To top it off, I was injured coming into this fight. I hurt my knee about a month ago, I wasn't able to train ju-jitsu for the last month," said Diaz. "And about two weeks after that, I was just sparring boxing and I really hurt my rib and that put me out of sparring about two-and-a-half weeks ago.
"And I got that all on tape, so just to set it off not to make excuses because I got that all videoed up. He should have finished me off. If I would have been fighting me, I would have took me clean out."
According to the score cards, Diaz did win two rounds as judges Jeff Mullen and Derek Cleary marked them in favour of the Stockton man. However, they gave the other three rounds to McGregor, while Glenn Trowbridge had it down as a draw.
Image: Fox Sports
There is talk of a trilogy to settle the rivalry, and it certainly sounds as though Diaz believes he still has a point to prove against McGregor.
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