After all this time, hype, rumor, and speculation, you’d think that the UFC would have finally been able to get the Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz rematch booked for some point later this year.
The fight was set for the main event of July’s UFC 200 after Diaz infamously submitted McGregor at March 5’s UFC 196, but McGregor’s insanely publicized “retirement” fit that lasted all of two days after the UFC pulled him from the match for skipping media obligations caused the current windfall the MMA world is still heavily embroiled in.
So he did what any top-flight MMA champion would do, and he went and got “involved” with an unlikely superfight with also “retired” boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr. While that bout has next to no chance of actually happening, the McGregor/Diaz rematch, which was tentatively targeted for August’s UFC 202, may now never happen.
Appearing on an episode of ESPN’s “Sportscenter” today (Thurs., June 2, 2016), UFC President Dana White declared that the promotion is still working on a fight for McGregor, but it’s been challenging to get a deal done for the Diaz fight:
“We’re working on what’s next for him,” White said. “We’re trying to set up a fight right now. It’s been a little challenging. Obviously the fight he would love to do is the rematch with Nate Diaz. I’m trying to get the deal done.”
White went on to add that McGregor is still “obsessed” with rematching the larger Diaz in order to avenge the loss:
“Conor is obsessed with this rematch,” White said. “I don’t know why, but he is. It’s just his type of personality. He’s obsessed with it. He’s obsessed with fighting Diaz again – at 170 pounds.”
But even though the UFC’s biggest star supposedly wants nothing more than to beat the Stockton slugger, White still isn’t sure if he can actually make the bout a reality:
“I don’t know if that will ever happen, but I’m trying,” he said.
There’s little doubt that White and his employees are giving anything but their best efforts in order to get the huge rematch booked, as the first one brought in an insane 1,500,000 pay-per-view (PPV) buys.
However, with Diaz appearing a bit unwilling to play ball for anotehr huge payday, and McGregor off doing his own thing, it could truly become a reality that the fight, which many proclaimed they didn’t want to see again in the first place, doesn’t actually happen. Do you care?
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