Despite the UFC making it clear that they’ve moved on from the idea of Conor McGregor fighting Nate Diaz, it seems that “The Notorious” featherweight champion still has his heart set on it.
“Nobody gives a fuck about these other fights until this one is settled,” McGregor wrote on Instagram alongside highlights of his first fight with Diaz. “Cut the bullshit. Run it back. #RealFight.”
When UFC president Dana White first indicated that McGregor would no longer be fighting on the UFC 200 card in July due to him refusing to attend their recent promotional tour,. he also indicated that the star would now also have to drop back down to defend his featherweight title next.
That would mean facing the winner of UFC 200’s main card interim title fight between Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar, with White suggesting that it would take place at one of the events following that historic show.
Clearly McGregor is not enamored with that idea however, and Diaz also bluntly informed White at a UFC 200 press conference that he wasn’t interested in fighting anybody else at the moment either.
So, while it seems that McGregor lost his power struggle with the company over the level of promotion he’d have to do for UFC 200, it seems he’s not finished yet, and could now draw a new line in the sand regarding his next opponent.
It’ll be interesting to see how the UFC deals with this. It’s known that the UFC brass weren’t overly enthused by the idea of the Diaz rematch in the first place, so if they are determined that he defend his title next, then it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that they threaten to strip him of the belt if he digs his heels in.
On the other hand, there’s definitely more interest in the rematch now than there was when it was first announced, so the UFC might be willing to entertain the idea of just going ahead with McGregor Vs Diaz II first.
