Quote: Conor McGregor Backed Out Of Movie Because Diaz Kicked His Ass
Once upon a time UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor was all set to co-star alongside Vin Diesel in xXx: “The Return of Xander Cage”, but that all took a left turn after the Irish champ ran into a man named Nate Diaz.
The then-featherweight champ was set to attempt to make UFC history (which he later did against Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205) by challenging then-lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 196 for the 155-pound strap, in effort to become the first dual-weight champ in promotion history. Unfortunately Dos Anjos was forced out of the contest after suffering a broken foot in training camp, and longtime lightweight contender Nate Diaz would step in to take on ‘Notorious’ in a welterweight contest.
After battering Diaz on the feet for the first five minutes of the fight, McGregor gassed out and ate a flush 1-2 combo to the chin that wobbled him, eventually finding himself in the Gracie jiu-jitsu black belt’s firm rear-naked choke, forcing him to tap and suffer the first and only defeat of his UFC career.
Shortly following the defeat McGregor shifted his attention to an immediate rematch with Diaz to avenge the loss, putting all planned projects on hold to focus on his training. Those projects included his part in xXx: “The Return of Xander Cage”, forcing McGregor to withdraw from his commitment to the film, something director DJ Caruso tells The Irish Mirror pissed him off:
“I wasn’t disappointed by it, I was really pissed because Conor had said ‘yes’ he was gonna do the movie,” Caruso said. “He got his ass kicked by Nate Diaz and then after that he sort of backed out.”
McGregor would go on to successfully avenge his loss to Diaz five months later with a majority decision win at UFC 202, while UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping took his place in the film. xXx: “The Return of Xander Cage” will hit theatres tomorrow (Friday, January 20, 2017), and you can check out a preview for the film featuring Bisping here:
