Although dollar signs and machismo led to both Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz calling each other out for a rematch (although not without a stipulation by Conor for it to be at 155 next time), Dana White says it’s time to move on.
“We’re not doing this a third time, right now,” he said on FS1’s post-fight show. “Conor’s going to defend his title or give it up. I have no idea what’s next for Nate.”
What’s next for Nate is going to be a story to watch. There are likely some fighters at 170 eager to get co-billing headlining or co-headlining a PPV or Fox special with the newly world famous Nate Diaz, who didn’t hurt himself in the rematch in that they went all five rounds and he ended the fight on top of McGregor.
“It was a great fight,” White said. “It was everything that I thought, but I didn’t think it would go five rounds. Those guys are warriors. I had it 3-2 for Conor. It looked like Conor was gassed, then he came back. I though Diaz was out, but he came back.”
Keller’s Analysis:The key words from Dana were at the end of the sentence, that there won’t be a rematch “right now.” Diaz and McGregor took a lot of steam off the box office for a trilogy fight by being chummy with one another after the fight. Diaz saying at least he got paid so it’s all good, it takes some of the edge off the rematch compared to if Diaz was fuming mad and stormed out of the Octagon. Diaz saying he had a rough camp and perhaps an injury preventing him from training fully felt a little to Tito Ortiz-ish to me. If Diaz has success at 170, and Conor has success at 155, perhaps they’ll cross paths again. Diaz is only 31, and McGregor is only 28, so they can still be in their prime three or four years from now, and perhaps by then there will be a reason for them to fight again. But if Diaz loses a couple fights with other top five contenders in his division, and Conor goes on to great success defending his title, then the shine will be off a rematch entirely.)
There’s also the possibility that McGregor gets beat by Aldo, setting up fight #3 with him. Mix that in with a thrid fight with Diaz, and it’s nothing but dollar signs for the UFC (and their new owners).
Sadly, I don’t think there’s any other fight for Nate in his mind; Conor is the huge (yuuge [/Donald Trump]) payday, so I think he’s out until Conor fulfills his obligations at 145.
This is a great fight for Dana to keep in his back pocket, to use whenever McG hits a bumpy patch and loses momentum. Coming off of an epic win, the Conor hype rub will apply to any fight they put in front of him (it’s got to be Alvarez, right?)
The fact that all viewership numbers declined somewhat from 196 to 202 suggests that saving this fight is the right move