He may have tasted UFC defeat for the first time but that's not to say that Conor McGregor has lost any of the sheen that has ensured he can effectively write that one off and return to headline the biggest card of the year.
The granting of an immediate rematch to McGregor is controversial. Holly Holm's not getting one and Jose Aldo certainly didn't get one but the reality of the UFC is such that, if Diaz was the fight that the Dubliner wanted, then there was never any other option.
Plenty will argue against that but the business model of the UFC dictates the fights that are made and, right now, the business model is one which McGregor has taken and shaped in his image. All in the space of exactly three years. On Wednesday we took a look at how the MMA world reacted to McGregor's UFC debut against Marcus Brimage in Stockholm.
Since then, opponents of varying standard have been put in front of him and as they went down the paycheques just kept going up and up. And, despite that defeat to Diaz, you better believe that McGregor wasn't going to let yesterday's anniversary pass without a quick reminder of what he has done for the rest of the promotion's fighters.
3 years ago today, I began my crusade to take all you bums from 5 figure paydays to multi seven figure paydays.
And not even a thank you.— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) April 6, 2016
An admirable wind up effort if ever there was one. And if Frankie Edgar is still sharing his social media password with his manager then we have no doubt we'll see one or two responses to McGregor's latest taunt over the coming days but at the moment, it's all very jovial. Welterweight brawler and all round fan favourite Rory MacDonald was fairly quick with his reply.
If McGregor feels like ditching the fighting career anytime soon and heading into the lucrative world of motivational speaking, he has an eager customer in the Canadian.
@TheNotoriousMMA coming out with a dvd box set "change your bum life in 3 years" ... lord knows i would buy it! 😂
— Rory MacDonald (@rory_macdonald) April 6, 2016
We'd like to think Big Ben would be all over that as well.
@rory_macdonald @TheNotoriousMMA 😂😂😂
— Big Ben Rothwell (@RothwellFighter) April 6, 2016
And while we're on the subject, it's worth asking the question once more, what the hell are the UFC playing at regarding Rory MacDonald's contract.
