Humbled in loss, Conor McGregor walked out of the Octagon minutes after tapping out to Nate Diaz at UFC 196.
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After his first loss in nearly six years, McGregor's standing as a great fighter remains unfazed.
McGregor's legend will only grow from here after his take-all-challengers approach saw him jump from 145 pounds to 170 against the gritty Nate Diaz. He gassed himself in the first round after throwing cocky head kicks and a series of punches that showed he wasn't prepared for just how tough Diaz's chin really is.
Who knows what would have happened if Rafael dos Anjos didn't break his foot ahead of the UFC 196 main event. Or if Jose Aldo had been in shape. McGregor did what great fighters do as the days grew slim in advance of a PPV card depending on his presence — he took a challenge he was destined to fail, and he did so talking smack the entire way down.
His loss doesn't define his body of work. It's a mere blip on the radar.
Diaz chatted about McGregor's MMA career after the win, talking up his double-digit fight record and taking shots at the featherweight champ's eight UFC bouts. He's missing a chunk of McGregor's early career (22 fights in total) and the fact that he knocked out or TKO'd just about everyone in his way to the top.
What happens next, however, will define his career. How McGregor bounces back will determine his place among the greats. And while he gets there, he'll continue dressing, talking and hyping fights like he already belongs among UFC's legends.
