Conor taps out, wins the rematch, digs Eddie’s grave, buries him in it and struts off into the sunset with his sights set on a multi-million Mayweather clash. Meanwhile the remaining cast of The Eagle, The Diamond, Max Blessed, T-Ferg et al were set on a path to rip through Conor’s divisions as he bows to the baying crowd ready to fight. The Eagle strikes, Conor taps yet again. But all of this history can be traced back to the foot of RDA. Whether we acknowledge it or not, that foot is what got the Stockton Slappin Nate Diaz to strangle the Irishman to near death and set the universe on its current path.

I’m not necessarily saying RDA would have won against Mystic Mac, Conor was riding on a lot of momentum and confidence however whilst this fight was still in play, I hadn’t ever heard of either of these characters. The first card I ever saw was UFC 202 and it was something completely new. By this time. I had seen the first fight between Nate & Conor and decided to invest myself into the build-up for the second outing, so there was a real sense of casual-style anticipation. In the weeks that went by we saw bottles and cans thrown about, gang signs thrown up and the elusive elder Diaz banned from his brother’s corner. A big drama show! The card was one to be forever welded in the MMA history books with young talent like Colby Covington, Cody Garbrandt, Mike Perry being showcased, and even members of the old school like Cowboy Cerrone, Rumble Johnson and our Lord and saviour Artem Lobov were scrapping on it.

I was glued to the television all night, after the main event I felt exhausted but exhilarated and could only compare my experience to watching the Men’s 100m final at the Olympics, except this was an entire nights worth of glorious violence. The damage that Nate wore like some sort of trophy, Conor running to escape the seemingly undefeatable Diaz, whilst managing to trade ripping combinations heightened the exhilaration and pure unfiltered euphoria the night of violence brought with it. Oh let us not forget about Bruce Buffer, Bruce goddamn Buffer, what a guy.

So the point here is that a lot of us have Rafael Dos Anjos’ injury to thank for setting the right conditions for this timeline of reality. Ultimately, Conor probably has the most to thank RDA’s foot for. Who knows, perhaps RDA might have made Who the hell really knows what would have happened in the worlds most unpredictable sport. We sadly have never got to see RDA & McGregor go at it in the cage! Regardless, an RDA win might have brought a sudden halt to The Notorious freight train and maybe May-Mac would never have happened and so on and so forth but one thing is certain and inevitable. Khabib was always going to be the champ,  just ask Conor.