Nate Diaz has no interest in fighting Conor McGregor for a third time.
Diaz and McGregor split their previous two matchups, with Diaz winning the first via submission at UFC 196 in March 2016 and McGregor winning the second via decision at UFC 202 last August. Neither fighter seems to be in any rush to set up a trilogy bout, though.
In fact, Diaz was especially adamant Wednesday on “The MMA Hour.”
“I don’t want a (f—ing) third fight,” Diaz said, as transcribed by MMAFighting.com. “(F—) Conor. He can (f—ing) fight himself.”
Warning: the video below contains strong language.
McGregor currently is eyeing a possible boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr., while Diaz changed his mind about fighting Tony Ferguson, perhaps thanks in large to McGregor’s manager, Audie Attar, saying recently that Diaz should fight Ferguson as a way to get The Notorious’ attention.
“For one, I never ever said I was waiting for a third fight with Conor McGregor,” Diaz said during Wednesday’s interview, per MMAFighting.com. “I never said that. People think what they wanted and said that I wanted another fight with Conor. I already whipped Conor’s (f—ing) ass. He should want a fight with me. I gotta light a fire up under his ass?”
UFC president Dana White told TMZ Sports he’s unsure if Diaz or his brother, Nick, ever will fight in UFC again, as neither seems motivated to step back into the octagon. A third fight between McGregor and Diaz probably would do huge numbers — after all, the first two fights did gangbusters — but Diaz still believes he won the second fight, lessening the need for a rubber match.
“Conor is a (f—ing) bitch,” Diaz said on “The MMA Hour,” per MMAFighting.com. “He (f—ing) got his ass whooped, he got choked. And now he’s justifying it because the decision went to him because the company wanted it to go to him. If I get my (f—ing) ass whooped by somebody, I don’t just win a slight decision and then accept it as a win. So the real champ is right here.”
McGregor, who defeated Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 last November to become the first two-division champion in UFC history, has the gold and the distinction of being the most popular fighter in mixed martial arts. But one still can’t help but wonder whether he’ll eventually cross paths with Diaz again, at which point both fighters will have plenty to prove.
Thumbnail photo via Joshua Dahl-USA TODAY Sports Images
