Conor McGregor banked $1m for shocking defeat when Nate Diaz submitted him on 11 days’ notice

Conor McGregor suffered the first UFC defeat of his career nine years ago when he was submitted by Nate Diaz.

However, the Irishman who was being referred to as ‘Mystic Mac’ at the time still bagged himself $1million from the fight on March 5, 2016.

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In what would turn out to be an epic rivalry between the pair, McGregor met Diaz for the first time at UFC 196 at the beginning of 2016.

Then-UFC lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos was originally scheduled to fight McGregor in the Las Vegas main event, but withdrew following an injury that ended up impacting a definitive chapter of the latter’s career.

Diaz then stepped in on 11 days notice to fight McGregor, as he had been training for a triathlon and was in arguably the best shape of his MMA career.

McGregor had won 15 straight fights leading up to the bout, with 17 of his 19 victories coming by way of knockout.

UFC commentator Joe Rogan declared Diaz would be ‘the most difficult test of Conor McGregor’s career’ as his fellow American made the octagon walk, and he couldn’t have been more spot on. 

As the winner of The Ultimate Fighter season five in 2007, Diaz had been in the fight game a long time, especially when compared to McGregor, who made his UFC debut in 2013.

With the fight also taking place at welterweight – two weight classes above McGregor’s fight with Aldo – Diaz was regarded as a favourite among those within the fighting community.

In boxing, a move from 145 pounds to 170 pounds means jumping up four weight classes, so the challenge McGregor put on himself was evidently huge.

Ultimately, that challenge proved to be too great for McGregor, who fell to a second-round submission defeat as Diaz became only the third person to claim a victory over the Irishman.

Mcgregor would go on to defeat Diaz via majority decision in their rematch five months later, before creating history as the first UFC fighter to hold two belts simultaneously by knocking out Eddie Alvarez.

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The Dublin native then lost arguably his most renowned UFC bout to Khabib Nurmagomedov after taking a break from the sport to box Floyd Mayweather in 2017.

‘The Notorious’ returned to the octagon in January 2020, making easy work of Donald Cerrone, before suffering two straight defeats to Dustin Poirier.

He has not fought since as many combat sports fans strongly believe his fighting career could be over.

UFC 196 payouts revealed that McGregor earned $1m from the bout, while Diaz made $500,000.

Meisha Tate, who submitted Holly Holm in the co-main event on that night in 2016, made $92,000 from her victory and that included a $46,000 win bonus.

McGregor’s encounter with Diaz came only three months after the former had made history by knocking out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds to claim featherweight gold.

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It was southpaw vs southpaw in the opening stanza as a 27-year-old McGregor, unsurprisingly started on the front as the early aggressor.

The Irishman was eager to get up close and personal with Diaz, throwing a variety of punches, with a spinning back kick thrown in, while mostly looking to catch his opponent with an uppercut.

The pair found themselves clinched up against the cage, where Diaz, who was 30 at the time, was expected to utilise his elite wrestling skills, before breaking apart.

McGregor continuously looked for the opening with his devastating left hand as Diaz avoided cautiously, popping the champion with his jab.

Diaz laughed halfway through the first round as he began to look more comfortable, finding the range with his two inch reach advantage.

With 90 seconds left in round one, blood poured from the face of Diaz for the first time as he started to have some bother in his right eye.

He then attempted a single leg to bring McGregor to the ground, but ‘Notorious’ ended up landing some ground-and-pound on top of Diaz, who survived with good movement on his back to see out the final few seconds.

McGregor was straight into his creative striking rhythm right off the bat in the second round as he looked to land more damaging blows on a bloodied Diaz.

Diaz recognised what was coming his way and clinched with McGregor just over a minute into the fight, but his opponent escaped to keep striking.

Blood really started to leak out of the face of Diaz, who only seemed to get motivated by the crimson red as he pushed on with the crowd getting louder.

In what was the most significant moment of the bout, Diaz then caught McGregor with a sharp left hand halfway through the second round, and you could tell the Irishman was hurt.

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McGregor shrugged his shoulders and asked for more, and that’s exactly what Diaz provided, as he took it to the Dublin man, clinching with him against the cage, throwing several left hands, with blood spilling over his opponent.

In an electric final 90 seconds of the round, Diaz again stumbled McGregor, who, out of desperation, went to takedown his American counterpart, which turned out to be the beginning of the end for McGregor.

It was a detrimental mistake from ‘Notorious’, who was caught in a guillotine en route to the matt after Diaz had reversed the submission.

“Conor’s in serious trouble!” Rogan shouted as Diaz made his way on top of McGregor, landing some brutal ground-and-pound before flattening his opponent.

Jaws dropped inside MGM Grand as Diaz proceeded to wrap his right arm around the neck of McGregor, forcing the Irishman to submit to the first defeat of his UFC career.

“Oh my goodness. What a night ladies and gentlemen. What a night,” Rogan added as Diaz, soaked in blood, triumphantly paraded around the octagon like a soldier returning from battle.

“There’s a new king right here,” the American said in his post-fight octagon interview after he had become just the third man to defeat McGregor in MMA.

McGregor said: “I took a chance to move up in weight and it didn’t work.”

Weeks later, McGregor set social media ablaze by sensationally announcing he had retired from the sport.

He was originally pulled from his rematch card by UFC President Dana White at UFC 200, before McGregor posted a statement to confirm he was not leaving the UFC, and the pair would end up fighting in August of the same year at UFC 202.