Conor McGregor Bet on Underdog Nate Diaz Not for $1.6M Payout but Out of Camaraderie – “He Felt for Nate Diaz”

Nate Diaz not only took his revenge by winning the boxing bout against Jorge Masvidal but also saved Conor McGregor in the process. The Stockton native had a chance to redeem his UFC 244 loss and the clash between the past rivals drew a lot of fans, including ‘The Notorious’ who bet on the fight and chose Diaz as the prospective winner. Interestingly, McGregor and Diaz also have a rivalry that is iconic in UFC. The duo fought twice against each other and Diaz won by submission once while McGregor won the second rematch via decision. However, McGregor showed solidarity with his rival and bet on him to win this fight.

This huge bet with a whopping $5ook on the line was successful for the fighter and UFC insiders were shocked!

UFC insiders break down why McGregor bet on Nate Diaz

Chael Sonnen and Daniel Cormier recently discussed his risky bet McGregor and how he eventually won a huge amount of money because of Nate Diaz. The Stockton native defeated Masvidal via majority decision in their first boxing bout and went home with a victory and even made McGregor win.

On the Good Guy/Bad Guy podcast, Cormier spoke about McGregor’s purpose of betting such a huge money saying, “Nate Diaz fights Jorge Masvidal. I did not think Nate could win. Conor McGregor on the other hand goes, ‘I think Nate’s gonna beat him.’ Bet $500,000 Chael wins $1.6 billion on Nate Diaz. So essentially Chael Conor McGregor is so good at making money he was the highest-paid fighter on a Card last week that he didn’t even fight on.”

‘The American Gangster’ had an elaborate answer to that and he explained how “scared money don’t make money as the famous line says…” He explained that even though UFC fighters fight their opponents, there is a camaraderie present. Sonnen gave his example with Anderson and even Cormier and Jon Jones. He complimented McGregor, saying that he had faith in Diaz and he backed the fighter. 

Sonnen concluded, “Conor is tipping his hand to the respect that he felt for Nate Diaz. He fought him in MMA he does some boxing himself, and he came to his opinion. He put his money where his mouth is I mean there was a lot to it. There was much more to it than a rich guy making more money.” Even though Diaz and McGregor were rivals, they have had mad respect for each other outside the octagon.

It should be noted that Nate Diaz also appreciated what his rival did and even came to his rescue recently.

Nate Diaz reacted to the bet

In a post on X, McGregor had declared that he would be betting on Diaz and gave a whopping $500,000. He reasoned that ‘The Stockton Slap’ was better in range and experience. The fight ended in Diaz’s favor and he landed shots at Masvidal for 10 rounds. During the post-fight presser, he was asked to share his thoughts on his win and McGregor’s bet, which made him $1.6 million richer.

In his signature calm and nonchalant style, Diaz replied, “That’s cool, good job for us” and the audience started laughing. Diaz reportedly secured a $500,000 payout. He even showed support for ‘Mystic Mac’ when the latter injured his toe and had to withdraw from UFC 303 at the last moment.

The Stockton native stated in an interview with Demetrious Johnson, “So now before you just jump to conclusions and start being like, ‘He’s hurt, f**king p*ssy,’ it’s like, ‘Bro, he lost his last fight because he went in there like a G and he was hurt and he f**ked himself up.’” He also brought up the dangerous injury two years ago that made McGregor go through a surgery and he had to sit out because of it. 

Do you want Diaz and McGregor to fight with each other for the third time? Let us know in the comments.