The mixed martial arts (MMA) world has been abuzz this week with the news that Nate Diaz will reportedly return to action at August’s UFC 227. As usual, however, Dana White is cautioning us to pump the brakes. According to the UFC president via Yahoo’s Kevin Iole, the news of Diaz is no news, because the […]
As usual, however, Dana White is cautioning us to pump the brakes.
According to the UFC president via Yahoo’s Kevin Iole, the news of Diaz is no news, because the promotion has been offering him a fight every three to four months as they have been since he faced Conor McGregor at UFC 202 in 2016, and it’s the same denial it’s always been:
Also, @danawhite didn’t seem to think much of the news about UFC negotiating a fight with Nate Diaz. “We offer him a fight every 3 or 4 months and have ever since his last fight. Nothing is going on.”
So White insists that Diaz isn’t coming back anytime soon and that there’s nothing to see here.
Interesting.
So interesting, in fact, that some would interpret that as an almost certain confirmation that Diaz will indeed be returning to the octagon sometime very soon. If and when he does, it would seem likely he’s matched up with one of a trio of top-ranked lightweights consisting of Kevin Lee, Dustin Poirier, and Eddie Alvarez.
All three of those fighters are elite lightweights who have won recent bouts by stoppage; Diaz hasn’t fought at lightweight since late 2015.
That may have Diaz rating as the underdog in all three match-ups due to his inactivity. To see how he matches up with all three, check out our match-up breakdowns involving Diaz right here.
Earlier this week, news arrived that absent UFC fan favorite Nate Diaz was in serious talks to finally make his return at August 4’s UFC 227 from Los Angeles, California. The report was met wit ha mixed bag of reactions ranging from extreme excitement and optimism to a tentative sense of uncertainty based on the […]
The report was met wit ha mixed bag of reactions ranging from extreme excitement and optimism to a tentative sense of uncertainty based on the many stop-and-start, so-called returns Diaz was supposed to be making in the nearly two years since he last set foot into the cage to face Conor McGregor for a second time, losing a close majority decision at August 2016’s UFC 202.
But the overall consensus in MMA media circles that this was indeed the time Diaz was seriously considering coming back to for the pay-per-view event in his home state of California. Speculation about him facing a trio of top lightweights including Eddie Alvarez, Dustin Poirier, and Kevin Lee began to swirl, and there’s little doubt that each match-up would provide its own benefits both in and out of the cage.
Each fight would be huge – make no mistake about that – because Diaz has the pre-installed attention of his feud with McGregor. The heat for their oft-discussed trilogy bout has cooled quite substantially due to the inactivity of both fighters, and while it could still happen one day, it’d be foolish to book it right now rather than striking when the iron was once again heated up. So Diaz will most likely fight one of the three aforementioned lightweights if and when he does return, yet it’s simply fair to ask if he can still hang with the top of the UFC’s most talented division at this point in time.
The story revealed that both McGregor and champion Khabib Nurmagomedov were not two of the names rumored to be facing Diaz. We know he can hang with McGregor and then some; most of his mainstream appeal obviously grew out of his shocking second-round submission over the Irishman at UFC 196, and he followed it with a narrow loss in a fight some thought he should have had his hand raised. Nurmagomedov, on the other hand, would be a completely different story with his relentless takedowns and smothering top game. He won’t be fighting Diaz soon, however, so we’ll discuss that at a later date.
So the issue in Diaz’s return to lightweight supremacy lies in his ability to defeat No. 5 Lee, No. 4 Poirier, and No. 3 Alvarez.
First of all, Diaz hasn’t competed in the lightweight division (his two bouts against McGregor were at welterweight) since he looked great while winning a unanimous decision over Michael “The Menace” Johnson in December 2015. Although a powerful striker who knocked out Poirier himself, Johnson is now unranked in the lightweight division and has recently cut down to featherweight, losing his first 145-pound bout to unlikely contender Darren Elkins. He’s lost five of his last six bouts.
Photo Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports
If he came back against Lee, it would be an entertaining, trash talk-filled buildup, but also the worst match-up for him. Diaz has had trouble against those with dominant, stifling top games, namely in his bouts against former lightweight champions Rafael dos Anjos and Benson Henderson. Lee doesn’t yet have the striking versatility of “Smooth,” but he’s rapidly improving into his athletic prime at 25, and his blanketing wrestling game is more dominant and stoppage-focused than Henderson’s was in his prime.
Lee has won six out of his past seven fights and has never looked better than he did battering Edson Barboza in the main event of April 21’s UFC Atlantic City. He’s also the lowest ranked of the three potential opponents and has yet to break through as a true star (not due to lack of effort on his part, however), so a match-up with “The Motown Phenom” probably isn’t the best choice for Diaz right now.
Photo: Mark J. Rebilas for USA TODAY Sports
A bout with the No. 4-ranked “Diamond” could be a significantly better one. Although Poirier has won three out of his last four fights, seven of his past nine, and is coming off of a rousing stoppage win over Justin Gaethje on April 14, his style would play into Diaz’ skills the best.
Poirier is often lured into slugfests, evident by the sheer amount of damage he took from Gaethje and many others, and he rarely stops coming forward throwing high-volume power punches. Diaz would gladly oblige him to throw down in a draining boxing match on the feet because while he’s not known for his power, he is one of the best volume punchers in MMA and his cardio obviously never slows down.
The more I think about this fight, the more I believe it would be an absolute treat for fans and a perfect addition to UFC 227.
There’s Alvarez, the former champion who claims he hasn’t been offered a Diaz fight and won’t be competing until he gets a new contract anyway. A former UFC champion who had no title defenses, Alvarez is coming off of his own rousing victory over Gaethje at last December’s UFC 218, but with constant calling out of “The Eagle” and his refusal to fight, it’s anyone’s guess as to when and against whom he’ll come back. He does have the most built-in backstory with Diaz, however, as the two were linked to a bout that Alvarez claims the Stockton star turned down (like many other top contenders in the lightweight division have lately).
It sounds like a lot of demands from a man who’s 1-1(1) in his last three, but the UFC will most likely come to an agreement with Alvarez eventually, and seeing him face Diaz with a potential title shot on the line would be an exciting bout. Alvarez has the striking to mix it up with anyone, but he’s also shown the ability to make fights ugly (read: boring) in order to pick up the win as he did in his bouts against Diaz’ teammate Gilbert Melendez and fellow former champion Anthony Pettis.
As noted, Diaz has been susceptible to those kinds of fighters in before, so a bout with him could turn into an ugly affair if Alvarez chooses to play it safe and get a huge win. Nevertheless, it’d be a great match-up with an awesome build-up.
Finally, there’s the welterweight match-up with returning champ Tyron Woodley. Even though it’s ridiculous to think Diaz would deserve a title shot a weight class above his usual after a loss almost two years ago, it could still happen. Woodley is returning from shoulder surgery, and while the UFC will crown an interim champion when Rafael dos Anjos meets Colby Covington at June’s UFC 225 from Chicago, “The Chosen One” has stated he wants to return sometime soon – most likely sooner than the winner of dos Anjos vs. Covington would.
So Woodley vs. Diaz could become a reality. if it did, Diaz would be at a severe disadvantage to the champion, an NCAA wrestler who walks around at upwards of 200 pounds. He’s one of the hardest hitters in the world as well, and while Diaz has a respected chin, taking shots from larger fighters like the welterweight champ after a two-year layoff does not predict to end well for the younger Diaz brother.
Regardless, it’d be a huge spectacle of a fight that would make UFC 227 must-see TV, something that can’t be said about the majority of UFC programming – at least in the eyes of most – over the past two years.
So Diaz may or may not be able to hang with the top wrestlers at lightweight, and he has less of a chance to beat Woodley in that area of MMA. No matter what, people would tune in with excitement to watch Diaz’ return, so maybe it doesn’t matter how he matches up with the big names at 155 pounds.
Just don’t be surprised to see his legions of faithful fans let down.
Max Holloway is back with another jab at absent UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor. Last week “The Notorious” posted on Instagram that he was definitely returning to MMA, and had even offered to replace Holloway and fight Frankie Edgar in the main event of this weekend’s (Sat., March 3, 2018) UFC 222 from the T-Mobile Arena […]
Max Holloway is back with another jab at absent UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor.
Last week “The Notorious” posted on Instagram that he was definitely returning to MMA, and had even offered to replace Holloway and fight Frankie Edgar in the main event of this weekend’s (Sat., March 3, 2018) UFC 222 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
However, the bout never materialized due to the UFC supposedly not having enough time to promote the event, and that left Edgar’s manager Ali Abdel-Aziz and coach Mark Henry blasting the claims in their own respective social media tirades.
Andel-Aziz claimed McGregor did truly offer to fight at UFC 222 but only if he could compete for a newly-created 165-pound belt, a division that has never been in the UFC.
Edgar soon revealed that McGregor’s post was the first he had heard about it, offering his own doubts that it was ever a realistic possibility considering he hadn’t heard from his employers about the potentially massive fight. But McGregor’s longtime training partner and friend Artem Lobov insisted that their camp was preparing to train and that the fight was “very, very close.”
“The Russian Hammer” reiterated that stance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani on Monday, but the featherweight champ isn’t buying it whatsoever. After recently trolling McGregor with a photo of him being stopped by Floyd Mayweather after “The Notorious” had posted a photo of their 2013 match-up where he defeated a young Holloway, “Blessed” fired back with another comedic response.
Although he’s injured and unable to compete this weekend, Holloway blasted McGregor’s claims that he would fill in on the card by offering a laughable scenario where he would amputate his leg in order to fight 125-pound champion Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson for a newly-created 115-pound belt:
One more update @arielhelwani. After I was pulled from 222, I offered to amputate my leg and fight for a 115lb belt against DJ. It was very very close. Plans were in place. But I was told there wasn’t enough time. Stay blessed, The DEFENDING Champ (no need TM what he can't claim) https://t.co/iFCB2NcHFA
Solid work from “Blessed,” who was many fans and media members’ pick for 2017’s “Fighter of the Year” after two impressive third-round stoppages of all-time great Jose Aldo.
He no doubt wants a rematch with McGregor, and with stinging social media barbs like this, he could have an outside shot at getting one.
Of course, the infamous Irishman will have to commit to returning first, and even though he appeared to do just that on social media, nothing is close to confirmed.
UFC 222, meanwhile, will go forward with a short-notice women’s featherweight title fight between Cris Cyborg and Yana Kunitskaya from Las Vegas this weekend.
Conor McGregor says he will return to MMA. With the lightweight champion in negotiations to fight twice in 2018 while Dana White insisted McGregor ‘understood why he was being stripped’ of the 155-pound title, ‘The Notorious’ took to his own personal Instagram account to confirm he will be back, period, because he’s the best. His return […]
His return was apparently closer than we all thought too, as he offered to fill in for Max Holloway at March 3’s UFC 222, but the UFC couldn’t raise the funds to pay him his now-astronomical asking price:
“I am fighting again. Period. I am the best at this.
I put my name forward to step in at UFC 222 to face Frankie Edgar when Max Holloway pulled out, but I was told there wasn’t enough time to generate the money that the UFC would need.
I was excited about bouncing in last minute and taking out the final featherweight, without all the rest of the stuff that comes with this game. Please respect the insane amount of work outside the fight game that I have put in.
On top of the fighting.
I am here.
It is on them to come and get me. Because I am here.
So it appears to be a matter of cold, hard cash – as always – and the word is the UFC and McGregor are getting closer and closer on agreeing to terms for his return.
He may or may not be stripped of his title, but the consensus has him facing the winner of UFC 223’s Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov title fight.
That is, unless Floyd Mayweather actually makes his way to the UFC.
Dana White insisted Conor McGregor ‘understands the decision to strip him’ of his lightweight title, but some further news has surfaced suggesting that may be a moot point. According to Dave Meltzer of F4Wonline.com (via Bloody Elbow), McGregor is in negotiations to return for not only one UFC fight in 2018 but two: “The word is […]
Dana White insisted Conor McGregor ‘understands the decision to strip him’ of his lightweight title, but some further news has surfaced suggesting that may be a moot point.
According to Dave Meltzer of F4Wonline.com (via Bloody Elbow), McGregor is in negotiations to return for not only one UFC fight in 2018 but two:
“The word is that negotiations with Conor McGregor are going well. No deal to return has been inked but they are said to be not so far apart and are in talks about him doing two fights in 2018.”
A ton of heat has recently surfaced about McGregor possibly returning to face Floyd Mayweather, whom he lost a tenth-round TKO in their hyped boxing match last August, in the Octagon.
However, Meltzer believes that Mayweather will not ultimately sign with the UFC to compete in a sport he would be at a massive disadvantage. And if he does not, the obvious choice for McGregor in the UFC would be a bout versus the winner of UFC 223’s Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov main event:
“All the pub right now is Mayweather under MMA rules but I can’t see Mayweather agreeing to that, even though it’s huge money,” Meltzer noted. “The UFC fight idea is the winner of Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov”
It’s an obvious choice, yet there’s far from a guarantee that McGregor will return to the UFC in 2018, if ever again.
He made a reported $100 million to box Mayweather, and as White hinted in his recent interview where he said Ferguson and Khabib would be fighting ‘for the title,’ he wouldn’t go as far to say that the UFC had officially stripped “The Notorious.”
Many believe that’s coming right before UFC 223.
With White noncommittal on McGregor’s return and the Irish star recently having broken the record for the longest UFC title reign without defending, everything is still as clear as mud.
We don’t fully know what’s going on behind the scenes, but if Meltzer’s report proves true, something huge could be coming soon.
Conor McGregor has a new UFC record, but it’s not necessarily one that will earn him a plaque in the UFC Hall of Fame. One year, three months, and one week – or 464 total days as of today – after he became the first UFC fighter to hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously […]
Conor McGregor has a new UFC record, but it’s not necessarily one that will earn him a plaque in the UFC Hall of Fame.
One year, three months, and one week – or 464 total days as of today – after he became the first UFC fighter to hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously by defeating Eddie Alvarez, McGregor now holds the record for the longest title reign without attempting to make his first title defense of the lightweight belt according to numbers chronicled by Bloody Elbow, a record McGregor officially broke last Sunday (February 18, 2018).
McGregor also held the UFC featherweight belt but did not defend it for 350 days and was stripped of the title only weeks after winning the lightweight belt.
That absence without defending the belt was long enough for McGregor to also hold the sixth-longest reign without attempting to defend. As it stands as of yesterday, he broke Anthony Pettis for the longest as well, although “Showtime’s” 463-day absence was due to injury, as were the other absences without defending in the top five from Frank Mir, Cain Velasquez’s first reign, and Matt Serra.
McGregor is unique in a sense, however, as his absence has been completely self-imposed. He spent the majority of 2017 seeking and getting a farcical boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, a spectacle that was one of the most lucrative events in combat sports history and made McGregor a reported $100 million, the most likely culprit for his now record-setting absence.
As MMA fans reach a fever pitch in their demands for McGregor to defend the title against the winner of UFC 223’s Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov fight, a contest that’s supposed to be for the ‘real’ title, he’s been lobbying for a rematch with Mayweather, this time in the UFC octagon.
Whispers have also swirled that the UFC will strip McGregor before UFC 223 once they know the oft-scheduled Ferguson vs. Khabib bout will finally happen without incident.
Regardless, McGregor’s inactivity is now historic, and if he were to get a second fight with Mayweather, we could most likely count on him not returning or ever defending his title.
At least he etched his name into the record books – and now, in more ways than one.
”