Welcome back everyone. I hope you all had a terrific weekend but now we have to get back to the grind of the work week. If you’re suffering from a case of the Monday’s, I think I’ve got something to sooth the pain.

It’s the first weekend recap from Shooting the Moon! Every Monday I’ll recap a few of the best stories from the weekend. What a weekend it was by the way. The Summer Olympics in Rio drew to a close, in spectacular fashion (seriously, the Japanese Prime Minister arriving via Super Mario warp pipe was a clever touch to the closing ceremonies). Team USA showed up when it mattered most in men’s basketball to blow out Serbia with a dominant performance. The Ryan Lochte controversy continued to spin its wheels.

However, the biggest story of the weekend came from the UFC. Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz stole the show this weekend with their epic five round clash at UFC 202 on Saturday night. This certainly goes a long way in washing the bad taste left over from a disappointing UFC 200. Both men left it all in the octagon and McGregor avenges his loss to Diaz, presumably setting up the rubber match in a few months. McGregor may have claimed that “the king is back” but he still needs to finish this trilogy with Diaz before he can get back to chasing titles in multiple weight classes.

I have to give all the credit in the world to McGregor for this victory. He chose to move up two weight classes again to prove he could defeat Diaz. If you recall the “build-up” to the first fight was Diaz stepping in on short notice for an injured Rafael dos Anjos, turning a lightweight championship fight (155 lbs) into a welterweight bout (170 lbs). This was the make or break fight for McGregor as he is back on track to becoming the pound-for-pound best fighter in the UFC. A third fight with Diaz does put a rematch with Jose Aldo for the featherweight championship and a lightweight championship opportunity on the backburner. If Saturday night was any indication, I don’t think any of us will mind seeing McGregor-Diaz III.

Quickly getting back to the Olympics before I wrap this article up, I want to delve into Team USA’s victory over Serbia in the men’s basketball gold medal game. I’ll be the first one to tell you that I was a little worried about Team USA coming into this game after looking vulnerable towards the end of the preliminary round and even in the semifinals against Spain. Kevin Durant showed why he is the second-best player in the world behind LeBron James, putting in a dynamic performance. He was all over the court for the Americans wreaking havoc on both ends. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the contribution from DeMarcus Cousins in this game as well. “Boogie” Cousins notched a double-double by halftime and was a force inside for Team USA. It all added up to a golden sendoff for Carmelo Anthony and coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Stay tuned to Shooting the Moon all week for plenty of NFL and fantasy football coverage. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.