CONOR MCGREGOR is confident he'll be able to 'toy with' Nate Diaz when he gets the chance to make amends for a surprise defeat in March.
The Irishman suffered a shock loss through a second round submission to the Ultimate Fighter season five winner at UFC 196, while he was on a 15-fight unbeaten run.
It was McGregor's only defeat so far and he has been handed an opportunity for revenge when he meets Diaz again in the Octagon on August 20 at UFC 202.
Despite his surprising failure at the start of the year, the 27-year-old is anticipating an easier ride second time around.
He said at an event to promote his head coach's new book 'Win or Learn': "I'm feeling very confident in myself that I'll go in and I'll toy with this man.
"Eight minutes of the fight, I was toying with him.
"That fadeaway left hand that he caught me with, my senses were still there. It was almost like a fatigue thing that my balance was gone.
"I always look back and question and say, what would have happened if I would have just weathered the storm? He was one or two shots being done, I feel. I feel when that left hand hit, he got this burst of energy.
"You can see it in his corner, they went insane. It was like they won the lotto. Then I took a couple shots and I shot [for a takedown] and I ended up in that guillotine and then it was just downhill from there.
"I feel when that left hand hit, he got this burst of energy. You can see it in his corner, they went insane. It was like they won the lotto. Then I took a couple shots and I shot [for a takedown] and I ended up in that guillotine and then it was just downhill from there.
"I wonder what would have happened if I just kept my hands up, I kept circling, took the smacks and survived. Eventually, his energy that he gained from that left-hand shot would have dipped again and then round three would have began. There's a lot of questions and stuff I'm confident I can improve next time. I'm going in here confident that I will get this rematch back."
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