Nate Diaz’s win over Conor McGregor at UFC 196 opened up a bunch of new options for him, including the potential for title fights that McGregor himself was seeking.
While a rematch with Rafael dos Anjos could be a potential fight, UFC President Dana White said after the event that there’s another fight he’d be intrigued to see after Saturday’s main event.
“You know what would make a lot of sense? This isn’t the fight I’m making; I’m just saying him and Robbie [Lawler] would make a lot of sense,” White said in a post-fight interview on ESPN (transcribed by MMAJunkie.com). “His brother beat Robbie. Robbie is now the world champion, and Nate became very, very popular tonight. We’ll see what happens with Nate.”
Penick’s Analysis: Nate against Lawler would be a highly entertaining stylistic fight, and in a division with a number of viable options, that fight is certainly reasonable enough. Diaz’s stock is as high as it might ever get again, and both he and the UFC would be wise to capitalize with a big fight. Diaz getting a rematch with dos Anjos could work, though Diaz lost pretty handily just over a year ago. Diaz-Lawler is much better from an aesthetic standpoint, but Lawler-GSP is ever more intriguing, and Lawler-Condit II could be huge if the former doesn’t come together. Still, if the UFC put Diaz in there, it wouldn’t be the worst fight they could make.
[Photo (c) Mark J. Rebilas via USA Today Sports]
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