There could only be one.
Nate Diaz tonight officially won the Conor McGregor sweepstakes after he was pegged to step in and face “Notorious” in the main event of UFC 196, which is set to pop off from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 5, 2016, according to company president Dana White.
White was a guest on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” this evening, where he revealed that Diaz would step up on about 10 days notice to battle the reigning Featherweight champion in a 170-pound showdown after Lightweight kingpin Rafael dos Anjos was forced out of the title fight with a broken foot (Full details here).
Beyond curious how that negotiation went down … literally.
Regardless, Diaz is coming off a win over Michael Johnson at UFC on FOX 17 in Dec. 2015, which was his first fight in more than one year.
Shortly after the win, Diaz went on an all out verbal tirade against McGregor, blasting the brash Featherweight champion for stealing his shtick. The outburst probably would’ve been fine during any a pay-per-view (PPV) telecast, but since it was airing live on FOX, the censor button was working overtime.
See the uncensored verbal assault here.
Jose Aldo was offered a rematch against McGregor, but his head trainer informed UFC President Dana White that “Junior” wasn’t in the best physical shape to accept the bout against Conor on two weeks notice. Furthermore, it was reported that Frankie Edgar was also on the very short list to face the fiery Irishman, but since “The Answer” is recovering from a busted groin, UFC officials had to look elsewhere.
The question is, are you fight fans okay with their selection or would you have preferred this?
UFC 196 will also feature a co-main event bout pitting current women’s Bantamweight champion Holly Holm, who will defend her title for the first time against Miesha Tate.