One of the original The Ultimate Fighter winners, Diego Sanchez, is still beefing with surging UFC featherweight contender Conor McGregor, and he has elaborated on why he doesn’t like his “disrespectful” rival.
Appearing on this afternoon’s edition of Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, The Nightmare said that McGregor should think about who some of the pioneers of this sport are before talking trash (h/t MMA Mania).
For me, if there is one fight I could have, it’s Conor McGregor. Ill go fight him in Ireland. He wants to fight in a football stadium? I’ll fight him in a football stadium. When he jumped into the spot, he started barking up the wrong dog’s alley. I’m one of the guys who laid the bricks for this great career that he is having. I was one of the ones that created the expansion for the sport. I helped build the foundation on this big building, and the guy is just disrespectful. He doesn’t respect that, and he doesn’t respect any of the other fighters in his division that have paid dues.
Holding both the 145- and 155-pound titles in the Cage Warriors Fighting Championship in 2012, McGregor hasn’t competed at lightweight in his past four Octagon appearances.
However, that didn’t stop the outspoken Irish striker from trying to replace an injured Norman Parke and fight Sanchez at UFC 180 next month.
I am fighting @DiegoSanchezUFC in Mexico, November 15th. He spoke a big game. Now he will pay with his career. VIVA LA EIRE!!!
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) October 2, 2014
While a significant portion of fight fans could practically be heard licking their chops over the potential scrap, UFC President Dana White quickly rebutted McGregor‘s claim and said the matchup would not be happening, per Bloody Elbow.
Sanchez briefly looked like he’d still be involved in a firefight with submission specialist Joe Lauzon on November 15, but back-to-back injuries unfortunately cancelled the bout.
Meanwhile, McGregor has since signed up for a fight with Dennis Siver, which will serve as the main event of UFC Fight Night 59 in January.
Are there any set of circumstances that could produce a grudge match between McGregor and Sanchez in 2015?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
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