A UFC fan has shown the exact moment Conor McGregor could have seriously injured opponent Nate Diaz during their first fight back at UFC 196.
The fight, which took place on March 5, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada, ultimately went in Diaz’s favour. However, it’s possible that McGregor could have won the fight via breaking his opponent’s leg, if he’d landed a leg kick with full force.
The attempt came in the very first round of the fight, with both fighters starting somewhat equally.
McGregor was able to land a few significant punches, yet it was nothing that troubled the American this early on.
Before reaching the end of the first round, McGregor was able to strike Diaz with a clean kick on the back of the knee, which turned his leg inwards.
It’s clear that if McGregor had attempted the kick with the power we know he’s capable of, Diaz would have ended up seriously injured, yet McGregor backed off after the attempt instead of pursuing the same kick again.
The exact moment can be seen in the clip below if you scroll to around 15:15.
A UFC fan tweeted a screenshot of the exact moment on social media and captioned it: “Never forget Conor McGregor saved Nate Diaz’s career by not going full power here,” to which another fan responded with his theory behind McGregor’s decision, claiming: “Conor claims he had to stop doing these because the way the kneecap bent under his foot made him feel sick.”
According to this theory, McGregor purposely didn’t break Diaz’s leg and let the fight go on - a decision which he may have regretted when the fight ended with a Diaz win in the second round; the Irishman went for a takedown which resulted in his opponent being able to counter and turn it into a submission.
The two met in the Octagon again the same year, with the rematch coming only five months later - this time ending in a win for McGregor via majority decision.