With one fight left on his UFC contract, Nate Diaz has no real interest in running it back against Conor McGregor in a trilogy.
Despite a pair of lucrative fights that saw Diaz choke out McGregor in their first encounter before losing a close majority decision in the rematch, the Stockton native doesn’t feel as if a third fight makes much sense for him as he potentially approaches free agency.
“Not right now,” Diaz told Adam’s Apple when asked about facing McGregor again. He’s still got much .”
work.
McGregor is currently recovering from a devastating broken leg suffered in his own trilogy with Poirier this past July. He had surgery on the injury just one day after it was over. It’s unlikely that McGregor will return to competition until the middle of 2022..
Despite Diaz’s objections to the fight, it’s entirely possible that the UFC would like to at least explore the possibility of booking Diaz against McGregor again, especially considering the massive pay-per-view sales surrounding their first two bouts.
The first fight between them at UFC 196 reportedly sold over 1. 3 million buys, while the rematch at UFC 202 topped out around 1. 6 million buys. These fight cards are still among the top 10 in all of UFC’s history for pay-per view sales.
That said, Diaz still prefers a matchup with Dustin Poirier after the two have engaged in a war of words through interviews and social media for the past several months.
“I’m on my last fight on my contract right now,” Diaz said. “I would like to fight Dustin Poirier now. Next month when sh*t changes or people win and start doing something entertaining, or something going on, it’s all going to be different, I’m sure.”
After a fight was cancelled in 2018, Diaz & Poirier kept their eyes open for potential opponents but were never booked by the UFC. Lately, both camps have asked the UFC to make the fight a reality, but the promotion has yet to actually make any kind of official offer.
Diaz has continued to take shots at Poirier, especially over social media, although that’s only because he can’t get the UFC to actually offer him contract to fight.
” That sh*t is obnoxious for me,” Diaz stated about social media. For me, I have a larger following than most people, and they won’t let me fight. So what can I do? They’re not letting me fight, so I have to get my sh*t on them .”
