After a few weeks of mere speculations, the headliner for UFC 200 has finally been made official. Nate Diaz will be facing featherweight champion Conor McGregor once again, in a non-title welterweight contest on July 9th, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
This said fight will serve as a sequel to the massive UFC 196 event that took place last March 5th, where Diaz was able to shock the MMA world by stopping McGregor via second round rear-naked choke.
Must Reads
Must Reads
During the post-fight press conference, “The Notorious” himself made his intentions clear about dropping back to featherweight and defend his title. But apparently, the Irishman was more adamant about avenging his bitter loss .
“After the fight, Lorenzo (Fertitta) and I went up to Conor’s house that he was renting here in Las Vegas and started talking about, ‘what are you thinking, what’s next?’ And he was obsessed. Obsessed with fighting Nate Diaz again,” Dana White told ESPN (transcription via MMA Fighting).
White also revealed that he, Lorenzo and John Kavanaugh actually tried to convince McGregor to drop back down to 145-pounds, or fight Diaz at 155-pounds. But in the end, the Irishman ended up getting what he wanted, which meant taking this upcoming fight at 170-pounds.
“Conor McGregor is a guy who has had fights fall out seven days before he’s supposed to defend his title, and he steps up and he takes on all comers. The guy fights anybody, anywhere, anytime,” White said. “He’s stepped up on late notice and done these things. He wants this Nate Diaz fight? We’ll give it to him.”
Co-headlining the event is an interim featherweight title fight between José Aldo and Frankie Edgar. And according to the UFC president, McGregor will be facing the winner of the said bout, no matter what the outcome of his own fight may be.
“Win, lose, or draw against Nate Diaz, he will go in and he will fight either Jose or Frankie. Whoever wins at (UFC) 200,” White said.