UFC president Dana White says he “could” make the trilogy fight between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz happen.
The pair has fought twice previously with Diaz causing an upset in 2016 by beating the Irish star via submission and McGregor getting his revenge a few months later via split-decision.
Fans have wanted a third bout but the fighters haven’t faced each other in the octagon since. However, White has now teased the fight could go ahead soon.
“There’s no difference whatsoever [in matchmaking Diaz],” White told ESPN. “Every time we put on a fight, first and foremost it needs to be a fight the fans want to see. The other thing, depending how much they make, you want a big fight.
“A good fight. A fight that matters. A fight that’s going to create some hype, energy – and sell. But that’s always the same, if you have 10 fights or no fights [left on your contract].
“If we didn’t want to extend Nate Diaz, we’d wait until the deal was up and that’s it. We’ve had guys fight their contracts out, and Nate might be one of them. Our heavyweight champion is about to fight his contract out. This is a tricky thing, because I don’t want to sit here and act like Nate Diaz turned this fight down or turned that fight down.
“I don’t want to get into all that. I say this to you guys all the time: I’m in the fight business. By contract, I have to offer these guys three fights per year, and they can say yes or no. We’re working it out. The trilogy with McGregor is always there. That fight could happen. We could make that fight.”
It will be a tricky one to arrange as Diaz only has one fight left on his UFC contract and McGregor is still recovering from a broken leg he suffered in his trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier.
