By now, even amidst a flurry of borderline outlandish rumors that UFC superstar Conor McGregor will be taking on boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr., it’s more than safe to say that the “Notorious’” feud with lightweight veteran Nate Diaz has taken over the MMA airwaves, and in no small way.
Diaz only furthered the hype of the rapidly staling and overblown feud that features several odd dynamics we haven’t really seen from a UFC pairing before, during his revealing interview with Ariel Helwani on “The MMA Hour” yesterday, yet it doesn’t feel like we’re actually any closer to the bout being a reality.
To sum up the bizarre back-and-forth, Diaz submitted the Irish personality at March 5’s UFC 196 on only 11 days’ notice as a replacement for lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, and the rematch was hastily booked at the champion’s request for the main event of July’s 200 despite Diaz stating he didn’t really want the fight again. The stage was set, but McGregor then “retired” for all of two days when he was pulled from the event for failing to attend a press conference in Las Vegas to promote the event.
It was clear a rift had arisen between McGregor and his employers, but McGregor un-retired as many predicted he would, the two sides met in Beverly Hills last week in an effort to presumably strike talks back up again, and indeed it appeared everyone was all smiles after the meet. Then came a similar encounter between Diaz and Dana White in Stockton, and things weren’t quite as hunky-dory as they had been further South down the California coast.
Diaz obviously wants to be paid like his Irish counterpart, the man he battered and submitted after losing the first round of their impromptu meeting at UFC 196; and there’s really not much argument that he shouldn’t. But there is the school of thought that McGregor is such a huge overarching star he simply provides a massive boost and draw to each and every opponent he faces win or lose.
While there may be some truth to that, there’s also no doubt that Diaz is a draw in his own right, and his win over “Notorious” only furthered his already considerable following to all-new levels afterwards. His interview with Helwani did the same yesterday (although on a smaller scale), and Diaz is quickly becoming one of the biggest stars in MMA in his own right. He’s stepped out from his older brother’s shadow quite nicely, and while he couldn’t reach the worldwide level of exposure that he did and will with McGregor as his foil, the younger Diaz is most certainly a “needle mover” by himself as White once accused him not of him being.
Read on to the next page to see why that’s the UFC should just buck up, swallow their pride, and pay Diaz what he wants.
The post It’s Time For The UFC To Get Diaz vs. McGregor II Over With appeared first on LowKick MMA.