Getty Conor McGregor poses during a ceremonial weigh-in for UFC 229.
Last week, Ariel Helwani reported that Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje and Nate Diaz were the front runners to fight Conor McGregor next. And on Monday, Helwani reported that Conor “Notorious” McGregor has started preliminary talks to fight Justin Gaethje in the summer.
ESPN analyst and former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen has now reported that he has insider information that the UFC “was more interested in doing the Nate Diaz fight.” Sonnen, who co-hosts ESPN’s “Ariel and the Bad Guy” with Ariel Helwani, said that he doesn’t know why the UFC has focused on Gaethje, but he “feels comfortable in speculating” that Diaz is a “little tougher to deal with than Gaethje.”
Sonnen speculates, “Nate is in a little different [of a] category [than Gaethje] where he can be a little harder on you. He’s well aware of his worth. He’s well aware [what] a trilogy fight against Conor is going to do. It’s going to move the needle just a little bit more.”
McGregor and Diaz have fought twice, splitting the rivalry 1-1. They first fought at UFC 196, and Diaz earned the victory via second-round submission. The two rematched at UFC 202, and Notorious won the fight by majority decision.
Justin Gaethje’s Manager Denies Conor McGregor Report
After Helwani said that McGregor is in preliminary talks with Gaethje, Gaethje’s manager took to Twitter to refute the report. Ali Abdelaziz, The Highlight’s manager, tweeted:
This rumor about @Justin_Gaethje fighting vs @TheNotoriousMMA is absolutely false. He had the opportunity to fight him already instead of cowboy but he didn’t. Justin is the number one contender and like khabib said. Conor needs to win 10 fights.
His tweet reads, “This rumor about [Justin Gaethje] fighting vs [Conor McGregor is absolutely false. He had the opportunity to fight him already instead of [Donald Cerrone] but he didn’t. Justin is the number one contender and like [Khabib Nurmagomedov] said. Conor needs to win 10 fights.”
Gaethje has called out McGregor multiple times, including last week in a video.
Conor McGregor Called Out Nate Diaz After His Win at UFC 246
During his UFC 246 post-fight press conference, McGregor was asked to respond to a tweet from Diaz. After Notorious dominated and finished Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds, Diaz tweeted, “Weak as f**k.”
McGregor responded by calling Diaz out, “Let’s go, Nathan. Let’s go, brother; number three. It’s always here, so we’re right here, Nathan.” Diaz never responded to the tweet.
Diaz last fought at UFC 244 when he took on Jorge Masvidal for the “Baddest Motherf**ker ” belt. He ended up losing the match by doctor’s stoppage in between the third and fourth rounds. After the fight, there were talks about an instant rematch for Diaz, but those talks quickly dissipated.
UFC president Dana White confirmed to Jime Rome that Masvidal will be fighting UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman in July.
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