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<h3><a href="/go=news.detail&gid=456499" target="_blank">
Coach: Everyone was concerned about Diaz conditioning
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<a href="/go=news.detail&gid=456499" ><img class="photo" src="http://img.mixedmartialarts.com/method=get&rs=100&q=75&x=197&y=17&w=700&h=372&ro=0&s=nate-diaz-app-hero.jpg" /></a>
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<p>When the UFC came calling for a replacement to fight Conor McGregor on 11 days notice, Diaz said he was always in shape and was training for a triathlon anyway. Both Diaz brothers are ferociously devoted to health, fitness, and conditioning. But Nick was not in the kind of shape he was at the end of a proper camp.</p>
In fact, he had been having some fun, as he revealed on an Instagram post recently.
Diaz's Conditioning coach Damian Gonzalez spoke recently with Steven Marrocco for MMAjunkie, and said he was basically coming off couch for Conor McGregor.
Gonzalez is a pro triathlete who has worked with the brothers for some six years, alongside Cesar Gracie (BJJ), Richard Perez (boxing), Victor Galdon (corner), and Val Ignatov (Sambo).
“I think that he told Dana that (Triathlon training story) really just to put them at ease,” said Gonzalez. “Like, ‘Yeah, we’re in shape. He can’t tell Dana, ‘I’m sitting here on the beach having a cocktail.’ You just can’t say that.
“So you can look at it that way – he needs to recover from his last fight so he can start training again and triathlon season is coming. So technically, yeah, but not exactly the way everybody spun it.”
“I was worried. He was worried. Everybody was concerned about his conditioning, especially the people around him.”
“He was going to cram in a lot of work in short time, but he needed to recover from it. Basically what we were doing was shorter workouts, but a lot of workouts throughout the day, doing short duration.
“But the volume was pretty high, with a lot of intensity and a lot of recovery. They can’t take any illegal supplements; they’re not really into all that stuff, so basically, it’s just, when you’re not working out, you’re recovering.”
“Conor is super explosive, and so for Nate, it was not necessarily his usual game plan of pressing the action. Because he knew the guy would come to fight. So it was more about letting him see what Conor has and conserve his energy and then adjust to that, and then pick it up.”
“For triathletes, it takes a lot more than the average person for you to redline and make you tired. So when the other guy is redlining, that’s when he makes mistakes. You have mental lapses. And even a split-second mental lapse in MMA, bad things can happen.”
The coach also had some words about Diaz and needle moving.
“I feel they get sold short,” said Gonzalez. “They don’t get paid as much as they should. They use them to make money and then don’t break them off.”
“I think now, things are going to change. Now, I think they’ll treat these guys equally.”
Things have definitely changed. UFC president Dana White reported that Nate Diaz was paid "millions of dollars" for the fight with McGregor.
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