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Fans hoping to see Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 3 are going to have to wait a little longer, according to the fighter from Stockton, California. On Tuesday, ESPN’s Ariel Helwani shared an interview he did with Diaz, and they covered multiple topics, including his thoughts on fighting McGregor next.
Both Diaz and McGregor are coming off losses and to many fans, it feels like the time is now for the trilogy fight. However, Diaz isn’t looking to fight “Notorious” next.
Last month, McGregor lost to Dustin Poirier via second-round TKO in a lightweight bout at UFC 257. During the post-fight press conference, Notorious said he was interested in fighting either Poirier or Diaz next.
During his recent interview with Helwani, Diaz confirmed he believes that he and Notorious will likely fight again, he’s focusing on “bigger, better stuff” right now.
“I’m sure we probably will fight (again) one day eventually too,” Diaz said via LowKickMMA.com. “But at the time right now — it’s not the time. You’ve (McGregor) been finished off left and right, you know, I’m going to have to get finished a few times before we fight again. When the time is right the time is right. But I think nows the time for bigger, better stuff to go on — different stuff.“
Diaz Isn’t Interested in Fight at Lightweight, Wants Either Poirier or Charles Oliveira
During the interview, Diaz said that he doesn’t want to fight at lightweight, preferring to stay at welterweight or competing at a catchweight. He had two names in mind for an opponent, Poirier and Charles Oliveira. Both fighters are ranked in the top five at lightweight but Diaz wants to fight them at a higher weight.
Diaz hasn’t competed since his stoppage loss to Jorge Masvidal in November 2019. The bout was stopped by the ringside doctor after they determined that a cut over Diaz’s eye was impairing the fighter’s vision too much.
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McGregor & Diaz Are 1-1, Haven’t Fought in Over 4 Years
The trilogy fight between Diaz and Notorious has been on the table for over four years. The first time they fought was at UFC 196 in March 2016 after Diaz stepped in on short notice. McGregor, who was the featherweight champ at the time, was slated to compete for the lightweight title against then-champ Rafael dos Anjos. However, “RDA” pulled out with an injury and was replaced by Diaz.
McGregor and Diaz fought at welterweight and the American won via second-round rear-naked choke. Then, they rematched a few months later in August at UFC 202 and Notorious won by majority decision.
McGregor and Diaz are undoubtedly two of the biggest draws in MMA and a trilogy fight would be a blockbuster pay-per-view for the UFC.
However, the stars have not yet aligned for the trilogy match.
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