Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Nate Diaz said he’s open to a
trilogy fight with Conor McGregor under a couple of conditions.
“Conor’s gonna have to get him some
wins and prove he’s not so fragile first,” Diaz wrote Wednesday on
Twitter.
His comments came in response to UFC
president Dana White telling TMZ Sports he’d be “shocked” if a
third encounter between Diaz and McGregor doesn’t eventually happen.
Diaz previously told TMZ his plan was
to fight Dustin Poirier, which White explained was still a work in
progress, to complete his current contract and then walk away from
the Octagon.
A third clash with McGregor would be
highly lucrative, however, so leaving that door open makes sense for
the 36-year-old California native.
They faced off twice in 2016. Diaz won
the first meeting by second-round submission after nine entertaining
minutes of back-and-forth action. McGregor leveled the score five
months later when he scored a victory by majority decision.
Diaz embarked on a three-year hiatus
from the UFC following the loss to McGregor before returning with a
win over Anthony Pettis in August 2019. He’s since lost fights
against Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards to drop his career record to
20-13.
McGregor is 2-3 since the win over
Diaz, including a pair of losses to Poirier in 2021. He suffered a
broken leg in the second matchup and remains without a firm timetable
to return, telling SevereMMA (h/t MMAWeekly) he probably won’t start
sparring until April.
“It’s just about getting back in and
competing, getting myself in pristine condition and going in there
and enjoying myself and putting on a show for the fans,” the
33-year-old Irishman said Friday. “I’m in no hurry, no rush.”
Hypothetically, the long-awaited
trilogy fight could happen in the latter stages of 2022, but if Diaz is being honest in his thought (and not just trolling) that McGregor
must prove himself, then it probably won’t happen until mid-2023 at
the earliest.
It’ll be an easy sell for the UFC if
the fight eventually comes to fruition.
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