Nate Diaz has been told that a trilogy with Conor McGregor is "inevitable" and that he will not be allowed to leave the UFC without it taking place.
Diaz currently has one fight remaining on his deal with the UFC and has verbally agreed to a bout with Dustin Poirier.
However a trilogy between Diaz and UFC superstar McGregor continues to be talked up, including by the promotion's president Dana White.
Former heavyweight Brendan Schaub believes a trilogy between the pair is inevitable and believes they will "drain" as much out of McGregor as possible.
"Nate Diaz is never going to be able to leave the UFC without doing the trilogy fight," Schaub said during a conversation with Michael Chandler.
"I think the UFC knows that fight's always there, so they're trying to drain as much out of the Irishman as they can and finally go, 'Alright, here's the trilogy fight,' cause we all want to see it."
Chandler agreed, adding: "I think a win over Tony Ferguson puts me in that talk and if Conor wants to come back in July or August I would turn around right way.
"I think Diaz is the real wildcard, obviously you have Poirier and Diaz talking to each other and that fight makes sense but the biggest fight that the UFC can make is the trilogy between McGregor and Diaz.
"Also if anybody can come back and skip the line for the title, it would be Conor but I don't know if I see that happening. So am I on that short-list of guys he would come back and fight, maybe."
Chandler will first face Tony Ferguson as two of McGregor's potential rivals have been matched up in the lightweight division.
McGregor is currently eyeing a comeback and is uncertain at which weight he could return with options available at both 155lbs and 170lbs.
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Diaz previously ruled out a bout with McGregor but has now claimed the Irishman needs to return to winning ways and prove he is less "fragile" to secure a third meeting.
The American has previously hinted at retirement after his recent struggles to find an opponent despite being offered tests against Khamzat Chimaev and Vicente Luque.
McGregor's coach John Kavanagh believes this would be a way for the pair to end their UFC careers and has backed a trilogy to be one of his charge's final two tests.
"That would be a way to end it," Kavanagh said. "I think Conor only has one or two left as well.
"Look, the Nate trilogy is like Batman vs Joker, they're going to face each other forever. They're just perfectly made opponents, it's great fun the build-up and there's a respect, I won't say it's begrudging.
"They snipe at each other, but there's a bit of a tip of the hat to each other as well because they're both warriors and great fighters. It would be lovely to see."
