Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) “champ-champ” Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz have provided fight fans with two epic bouts. In their first encounter at UFC 196, Diaz handed “Notorious” his first loss inside the Octagon by submitting him in 2016. Five months later, McGregor got his revenge by outlasting the Stockton slugger after five rounds of action at UFC 202.
While the idea of a trilogy fight was floated around it never came to pass. Diaz has only competed twice since then, while McGregor has fought three times inside the Octagon and took part in a boxing match against Floyd Mayweather.
Still, “Notorious” hasn’t lost hope in getting the chance in breaking the tie, telling the Mac Life that a third bout against Diaz would be special, especially it a title is on the line.
“There are dangling carrots, or whatever way you would say it. Treasure chests that get presented to me. We’ve got world titles in boxing now. In addition, I hear Dana talking on The Mac Life interview also was Nate Diaz coming back down to lightweight,” said McGregor in a recent interview with Oscar Willis of The Mac Life (via Bloody Elbow).
“I love that. I’d love to compete against Diaz. We will compete again. If that happens at lightweight, you know, for a title that would be something special also. So, there’s many great options that are in the works and let’s see what happens. I am ready.”
Interestingly enough, UFC President Dana White recently revealed that he is working on a big fight for Diaz’s return in 2021. While it won’t be McGregor right off the bat, the mixed martial arts (MMA) world is waiting on pins and needles to see who White has in mind.
McGregor, on the other hand, is set to make his return against Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 on Jan. 23, 2021 on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. A win for “Notorious” will put him closer to a shot at the strap. If Diaz can score a win against whoever the promotion lines him up with — especially if it’s a top ranked foe — he could very well cut the championship line.
Of course, the 155-pound weight class is absolutely loaded at the moment, which means both McGregor and Diaz have their work cut out for them if they want to meet up for a big title fight.