Conor McGregor Vs. Nate Diaz Rematch Made Official For UFC 200
Back on March 18, Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting reported that the UFC was strongly considering having the rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz headline this July’s UFC 200 pay-per-view, and now, the rematch between the two has been made official.
UFC Tonight announced the official booking of McGregor vs. Diaz 2, and UFC officials have, in fact, confirmed that the rematch will take place on July 9 at Las Vegas’ new T-Mobile Arena.
Nate Diaz submitted Conor McGregor via rear-naked choke in the second round earlier this month at UFC 196. It was McGregor’s very first loss inside the octagon, and after the loss, “The Notorious One” talked about going back down to 145 pounds to defend his featherweight championship.
McGregor was then interviewed by TMZ just a couple of days after the fight, and when he was asked about who he’s fighting next, he expressed his interest in a rematch with Nate Diaz, but he also mentioned Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar as two other possible opponents for him.
RT if you're PUMPED for #UFC200!! Diaz. McGregor. Aldo. Edgar. Register at https://t.co/hVKGnw5ifv NOW! https://t.co/tyOVnMi9pY
— UFC (@ufc) March 31, 2016
Before it became clear that the UFC was going to book Diaz vs. McGregor 2 for UFC 200, most believed that “Mystic Mac” would go back down to 145 pounds and defend the featherweight title against Frankie Edgar. But, it’s clear that Edgar vs. McGregor isn’t happening anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean that Frankie isn’t getting a championship opportunity, as the UFC also announced that Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar will fight for the interim featherweight title at UFC 200.
The two big matches for UFC 200 – McGregor vs. Diaz and Aldo vs. Edgar – are both rematches, so there is some question about how much appeal both of these rematches have, and if UFC 200 will actually turn out to be the most successful pay-per-view in UFC history, which it was previously predicted to be.
Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 1 turned out to be one of the most successful UFC pay-per-views of all-time, as it ended up doing 1.5 million buys. So, it’s easy to see why the UFC brass believes that a rematch between the two will do big business.
The fight will take place at welterweight (170 pounds) once again, so neither fighter will have to cut very much weight going into the bout.
It seemed quite clear that, if McGregor would’ve won at UFC 196, the UFC was planning on having him fight the returning Georges St. Pierre next. But, of course, that didn’t end up happening.
In a recent interview, Nate Diaz seemed proud to mess up the UFC’s plans to put Conor McGregor inside the octagon with GSP.
“Yeah I heard (they were planning on having Conor call out GSP) but I put a big old hole in that s**t. What did they think, that I’m some game that they can play? I can’t be f***ed with, I been in the game too long. They wanted to have this big old GSP vs. McGregor bulls**t, with Georges sat in the front row at UFC 196, I don’t even wanna hear about that s**t. Get the f**k outta here with that, What the f**k? I p***ed off Conor McGregor, I p***ed off GSP, but most of all I p***ed off the UFC. Well guess what? Motherf***ers. Georges is full of s**t, he’s a bully, he was going to fight this little Irish featherweight guy? He would have held him down, that’s a freak show fight man.”
Georges St. Pierre vs. Conor McGregor was supposed to be the main event for UFC 200, as the UFC brass believed that a fight between the two would be the biggest fight in company history. But Nate Diaz successfully spoiled their plans.
So far, there have been only three fights that have been made official for UFC 200 – Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz, Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar, and Joe Lauzon vs. Diego Sanchez. Johny Hendricks vs. Kelvin Gastelum is also being rumored to take place at the big event in July.
[Featured image via Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images]
