UFC Featherweight champion Conor McGregor was an overwhelming favorite over Nate Diaz, a last-minute replacement following the injury to Rafael dos Anjos.

With the little time to train, no one gave Diaz a fighting chance against the Irishman, who seemed to be ready and prepared to fight at UFC 196, regardless of who it may be.

With dos Anjos out, the UFC went with Diaz who showed he would not be fazed by the constant trash-talk that McGregor has been known to do against his opponents. And with odds stacked against him, he did the improbable and handed McGregor his first UFC loss.

Rashad Evans Knew

While many pundits were siding with McGregor to win it all at UFC 196, there are a select few of UFC personalities who went with Diaz. One of them was UFC heavyweight fighter Rashad Evans, who has now become consistently accurate when it comes to pre-fights.

Evans bares that he saw something different in McGregor, saying he was a different person who had a lot of adjustments leading to the UFC 196 showdown. That included the fact that McGregor had to do more work going up than down.

"With McGregor, I felt like he was a lot different that last fight because -- he wasn’t the same person. It seemed like he was putting on a little bit too much just for the show. And I know the woes of putting on too much for the show because I know at the end of the day you’re taking away from what makes you sharp in the cage," Evans said.

Mismatch in a Different Way

Evans goes on to reveal that Diaz carried assets that became too much for McGregor to overcome. Diaz was bigger and longer and such was evident when Diaz landed his punches over a smaller McGregor.

It was a punch that stunned McGregor and something that eventually led to the takedown and the match. It was a move repeatedly seen as the only way to stop the Irishman and such was exemplified by Diaz when he forced McGregor to tap.

Rematch not Advisable

Like most, Evans has heard of calls for a rematch but thinks it is not a good idea. Rather than fantasize about moving up weight classes, the 36-year-old UFC fighter advises McGregor to stay in his weight class and dominate other fighters in the level.

A rematch with Diaz could render similar or worse results according to Evans, citing the time of preparation as a factor.

“So if he goes against a Diaz who has much longer to train, he’s waking up another animal. He’s dealing with another animal altogether. So I think that he should just let sleeping dogs lie and just take that as a lesson and go back to 145 and dominate," Evans said.

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