AFTER NATE DIAZ sent a message to Conor McGregor back in December, it seemed that the veteran lightweight would have to be content with joining a long list of potential contenders to face the Irish superstar.
However, Diaz’s call-out of McGregor in the aftermath of his unanimous-decision win over Michael Johnson in Orlando has paid off. The 30-year-old Californian will now face McGregor in the main event at UFC 196 in Las Vegas on Saturday week, having been drafted in as a replacement for the injured Rafael dos Anjos.
The UFC had no shortage of options, it seems, with several fighters offering to step in and take the place of dos Anjos. However, the organisation has opted to put together a match-up — at welterweight — between two of its most popular and controversial athletes.
Although McGregor was originally due to compete against dos Anjos, it’s understood that the UFC were strongly considering a bout against Diaz instead, but the prospect of a historic lightweight title bout tipped the balance in dos Anjos’ favour.
Nevertheless, it’ll be McGregor versus Diaz in 10 days’ time and it all started with this expletive-laden rant at UFC Orlando on 19 December, which commentator Joe Rogan had to cut short due to the fact that the show was being broadcast in primetime on FOX Sports on a Saturday night.
Diaz said: “Fuck that! Conor McGregor, you’re taking everything I work for, motherfucker! I’m gonna fight your fuckin’ ass. You know what’s the real fight; what’s the real money fight.
“It’s me, not these clowns that you already punked at the press conference. No one wants to see that, you know you’ve beaten them already. That’s the easy fight. You want that real shit right here.”
McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh later tweeted his take on a potential McGregor-Diaz bout: “Absorbing that many shots would make it a very, very short night if he was to meet a real hitter #BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor”
Coach Kavanagh / Twitter
Coach Kavanagh / Twitter / Twitter
