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Nate Diaz Conor McGregor UFC

Nate Diaz confirmed the UFC wanted him to fight Conor McGregor in a trilogy bout before he decided to fight Mike Perry on Netflix instead.

Diaz returns this Saturday when he takes on Perry in a five-round welterweight bout on the MVP MMA: Rousey vs. Carano card. There were rumors that Diaz was in talks with the UFC before he signed a one-fight contract for MVP MMA, a deal that UFC president Dana White encouraged Diaz to take just because it was so much money for one fight.

Now, we know what fight the UFC wanted Diaz to have if he came back.

Nate Diaz Confirms UFC Wanted Him to Fight Conor McGregor Again

Speaking to Ariel Helwani in a recent interview ahead of the Perry fight, Diaz confirmed that the UFC wanted him to fight McGregor in a trilogy bout. These two met back in 2016 for two fights, with Diaz pulling off a massive upset at the time with a second-round submission win at UFC 196, before McGregor got revenge with a majority decision win at UFC 202. Both fights were extremely memorable, and fans have always wanted to see the rivals run it back.

But Diaz believes now is not the right time to fight McGregor, who is making his own comeback to the UFC after five years away from the promotion. The Irishman doesn’t have his fight officially announced yet, but there are heavy rumors he will take on Max Holloway in a rematch at UFC 329 in July.

“I’m like, I’m not trying to be a comeback story for Conor. I want Conor, back. And then I want him to be (expletive) showing people he’s whipping ass. Then that’s the guy I want. I don’t wanna be fighting a guy that they don’t know about, because I know he’s gonna come back and do good. I don’t need him to do it on me,” Diaz said (via MMA Mania).

“Once I get locked in, I’m gonna be locked in the whole time for the next forever. You know what I’m saying? You ain’t getting out of those contracts. I already been in them … It was hard to jump back in after I tried so hard for so many years to get out. I can’t just jump right back in. At least there’s Perry out here. I could get this done. So I’ve done everything on the outside before going back in.”

Nate Diaz Wanted Charles Oliveira

Instead of McGregor, Diaz said he wanted to fight UFC BMF champion Charles Oliveira. However, the UFC was not interested in booking that fight, and Diaz will fight Perry in MVP MMA instead.

“That’s who I wanted. Alright, I’m a go back and get that that (BMF) belt. I’m gonna fight this (expletive). And, they’re like, not interested in that. They wanna give me Conor, and I’m like, I want to fight Conor, but right now. It’s not the time. Everything’s about timing. You know? It’s not the time for that,” Diaz said.