It’s Time For The UFC To Get Diaz vs. McGregor II Over With
By now, even amidst a flurry of borderline outlandish rumors that UFC superstar Conor McGregor will be taking on boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr., it’s more than safe to say that the “Notorious'” feud with lightweight veteran Nate Diaz has taken over the MMA airwaves, and in no small way.
Diaz only furthered the hype of the rapidly staling and overblown feud that features several odd dynamics we haven’t really seen from a UFC pairing before, during his revealing interview with Ariel Helwani on “The MMA Hour” yesterday, yet it doesn’t feel like we’re actually any closer to the bout being a reality.
To sum up the bizarre back-and-forth, Diaz submitted the Irish personality at March 5’s UFC 196 on only 11 days’ notice as a replacement for lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, and the rematch was hastily booked at the champion’s request for the main event of July’s 200 despite Diaz stating he didn’t really want the fight again. The stage was set, but McGregor then “retired” for all of two days when he was pulled from the event for failing to attend a press conference in Las Vegas to promote the event.
It was clear a rift had arisen between McGregor and his employers, but McGregor un-retired as many predicted he would, the two sides met in Beverly Hills last week in an effort to presumably strike talks back up again, and indeed it appeared everyone was all smiles after the meet. Then came a similar encounter between Diaz and Dana White in Stockton, and things weren’t quite as hunky-dory as they had been further South down the California coast.
Diaz obviously wants to be paid like his Irish counterpart, the man he battered and submitted after losing the first round of their impromptu meeting at UFC 196; and there’s really not much argument that he shouldn’t. But there is the school of thought that McGregor is such a huge overarching star he simply provides a massive boost and draw to each and every opponent he faces win or lose.
While there may be some truth to that, there’s also no doubt that Diaz is a draw in his own right, and his win over “Notorious” only furthered his already considerable following to all-new levels afterwards.
His interview with Helwani did the same yesterday (although on a smaller scale), and Diaz is quickly becoming one of the biggest stars in MMA in his own right.
He’s stepped out from his older brother’s shadow quite nicely, and while he couldn’t reach the worldwide level of exposure that he did and will with McGregor as his foil, the younger Diaz is most certainly a “needle mover” by himself as White once accused him not of him being.
Read on to the next page to see why that’s the UFC should just buck up, swallow their pride, and pay Diaz what he wants.
After a massive spike in profit last year thanks in large to McGregor, the promotion is going to need him to avenge his only loss if they ever want to even sniff the air of invincibility he once brought to every bout ever again. The only way to do that is gamble on him in a rematch with Diaz, and that’s going to cost them some money. Big money.
Diaz holds all the cards, and he knows it. He’s one of the few fighters who are publicly willing to put themselves before the company, for better or worse. But there’s a consequence to him playing hardball with White and Lorenzo Fertitta, and that’s the further dragging out of the announcement of a rematch.
Not a lot of fans seemed to even want the rematch in the first place; it was McGregor who wanted his revenge even though Diaz insisted he didn’t really want to fight him again yesterday. Perhaps one is lying; perhaps there is some truth to both sides.
It doesn’t matter.
At this point, they need to make the rematch and announce it so fans can move on from this once-great rivalry that is now not only growing extremely stale but tying up one of MMA’s deepest divisions — featherweight — in the process. If not, they risk alienating fans and squandering the big gains they made in 2015 on the back of McGregor’s legendary drawing power.
So let’s hope Diaz vs. McGregor gets announced soon and happens, for all of our sakes.
