10 Finest Moments Of Respect Inside The Octagon

Make no bones about it, Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz did not like each other in the lead up to either of their box office clashes.

Providing volatile put downs and explosive exchanges in pretty much every interview/press conference they were involved in, any glimmer of respect between these two dogs looked to have been forgotten about completely.

That was until McGregor found himself being choked out by the Stockton star at UFC 196 and had to cope with the unfamiliar position of being the loser on the night. Diaz saluted McGregor for taking the fight on short notice and 'The Notorious' one graciously applauded the victor for his performance.

Then, just when you thought they'd buried the hatchet, that all became ancient history as soon as the duo decided to run it back at UFC 202. After bottles were launched and even more stones were thrown, the pair completely destroyed each other again for five more rounds.

McGregor won via majority decision and the bitter rivals would embrace after the final bell. In another show of the underlying respect between the pair, Diaz then congratulated McGregor for a 'good job' after the Irishman had commented on him being 'a hell of a competitor.'

It just goes to show that all that nonsensical verbal sparring which 'sells' you a fight of this calibre, very quickly becomes meaningless when the two fighters go out and put it all on the line. These two did just that and the respect exuded from them when the dust had finally settled.