Conor McGregor has claimed he bottled the chance to end his first fight with Nate Diaz - because he feared being too nasty.
McGregor was choked out by his bitter rival four years ago before exacting his revenge five months later in their rematch.
Diaz sprung a shock in their first meeting having stepped in to replace the injured Rafael dos Anjos at a week's notice.
But McGregor claims he opted not to follow through with a kick to Diaz's thigh minutes before he tapped out to suffer his first defeat in the UFC.
"I actually chose not to follow through with this kick in this exact moment," he wrote on Instagram.
"The sensation felt horrible and I backed out of following through with it. Fight would have been stopped no doubt though.
"I'd the angle on the led it primed to snap. I bottled it but it felt too nasty, even for me. Fast forward a few minutes later and I'm on the deck getting strangled; mad game.
"I'm still not for making these kicks illegal though, you've got to protect your angles and your footing and that's it - deal with it.
"They are horribly nasty kicks though."
McGregor had stepped up to welterweight for the first time to face Diaz and succumbed to fatigue having dominated the early stages.
Diaz seized his chance to sink in a rear-naked choke to pull off an impressive upset.
The rivals then delivered a five-round epic in New York later in 2016 with McGregor given the nod by the judges.
Since then the Irishman has gone on to become a two-weight world champion before losing to Floyd Mayweather in the boxing ring and Khabib Nurmagomedov back in the UFC.
McGregor retired earlier this summer for the third time in four years but could yet be tempted back by a rematch against Nurmagomedov.
Diaz, meanwhile, has fought just twice in the last four years, beating Anthony Pettis before losing to Jorge Masvidal.
