By Jim Edwards

Speaking yesterday at the 'Win or Learn – An Evening with John Kavanagh', Conor McGregor addressed the reasons for his defeat with Nate Diaz at UFC 196 and said that things would go an awful lot differently come August 20th at UFC 202.

One of the first issues McGregor outlined was his diet and training plan during fight week.

"My boy almost went into shock because I was stuffing my face eating everything," McGregor said. "Usually, when I cut to featherweight it's very taxing on me and I normally put myself in bubble wrap, but this time, because I didn't have to cut weight I was still training all week long and we were doing 6-8 hour sessions and swinging on gymnastics rings."  

"Looking back it wasn't the best idea and it bit me in the ass. I was a little heavy around the midsection and I was over trained, my diet wasn't great and it came back and bit me in the ass so as the coach says 'you win or your learn' and I learned. This time, I'm staying on my nutrition and I'm very fight orientated and I'm not swinging on gymnastic rings too much anymore."

A big criticism Diaz blasted McGregor with leading to their fight in March was the quality of the Irishman's training team. McGregor went on to detail the change in sparring partners he had brought in to help him prepare for Diaz this time. 

"For the last fight I was preparing for Dos Anjos for the lightweight belt and he was a small stocky southpaw but I didn't actually bring in any southpaws - not one" McGregor said. "The reason we don't really care about that the opponent is doing is because they always pull out, every day time.

"This time though, I know Nate is going to show up. I'm going to be facing a tall lanky southpaw with a decent lead hand so this time, I've brought in tall lanky southpaws with a good lead hands and solid Jiu Jitsu."

Another criticism levelled at McGregor for the defeat in March was his endurance which seemed to deteriorate quickly having been caught by a big Diaz left-hand midway through the second round. The Irishman detailed how he'd gone about changing that for the upcoming rematch.

"John [Kavanagh] is overlooking every session and I've also upped my cardiovascular stuff," McGregor said. "I kinda left that behind with my last injury and I wasn't clocking up all the miles like I used to in my amateur days. I've now hit the road, got back on the bike and got back on the treadmill and I've built up my cardio that way."

With all these changes now in place, McGregor then said he as totally confident on victory in August and even intimate he was going to humiliate Diaz.

"I'm feeling very confident in myself and I'm going to toy with this man," McGregor said. "For seven or eight minutes of the last fight, I was going to win but that fade away left hand he caught me with - my senses were still there and it was almost like a fatigue thing. My balance wasn't gone and always look back now and I question what would have just happened if I weathered the storm? He was one or two shots from being done I feel. 

"When that left hand hit he got this burst of energy, you could see it in his corner they went insane, they acted like they just won the lotto," McGregor joked. "I took a couple more shots, I shot and then ended up in a guillotine and it was just all own hill from there. I wonder what would've happened if I just kept circling and took the smacks and survived? Eventually, all the energy he got gained from that left-hand shot would've dipped again and then round three would've began."

McGregor ended by vowing he would get revenge in their rematch at UFC 202 on August 20th. 

"I think there's a lot of stuff I can improve upon next time and I'm going in there confident I will get this rematch back."