UFC president Dana White opens up on the fight everybody wants to see. Can the baldfather be trusted on these kinds of rumors?
Taking place on March 5, 2016 was UFC 196, and the start of an epic rivalry. Before Nate Diaz was drafted in on 11 days notice, Rafael dos Anjos was originally scheduled to face Conor McGregor.
RDA was the lightweight champ at the time, as the UFC hoped to push the Irishman to his second world title. Best laid plans, as they say, often go to waste. Bringing in Diaz on short notice might have seemed a good idea at the time, but it proved to be a spanner in the works.
Diaz had come straight off a boat doing tequila shots but managed to pull off the biggest win and payday of his career. Submitting an exhausted McGregor in round two, Diaz became an overnight superstar, while claiming ‘I’m not surprised motherf*ckers.’
McGregor vs. Diaz 2…& 3?
Of course, McGregor and the UFC weren’t going to let this go, and an immediate rematch was set for UFC 202. Eeking past Diaz on the scorecards, the Irishman was pushed into an immediate title fight at 155 pounds.
Diaz has been inactive since then, but numerous reports pointed to a UFC 219 trilogy bout on December 30 this year. Speaking via Twitter, UFC president Dana White responded to the rumors:
Not true AT ALL
— danawhite (@danawhite) September 24, 2017
BUT, and it’s a big one, why would White reveal this pay-per-view monster over Twitter even if it was true? We know how precious the UFC is about shows being leaked early, so perhaps he is trying to snub these reports before the official announcement.
Many times we’ve heard Dana White shoot down rumors that eventually turn out to be true. That said, his comments about not allowing McGregor to face Diaz again are an interesting read:
That Time Dana Said No
“We should have never done it in the first place. That’s what weight classes are for,” White told the “Michael Kay Show” last December. “They wanted to do it, we did it. They wanted to do it again, we did it again. They’re 1-1.
“There’s only so many of those wars you can be in, in your career and it takes a lot out of you. Some guys go into wars like that and they’re never the same after.”
“Look at Meldrick Taylor when he fought Julio Caesar-Chavez, there’s one for you. I mean he was never the same after that fight,” White said. “We’ve had those types of fights, too. I believe that Rory MacDonald was never the same after the Robbie Lawler fight. That fight ruined him.
“So I don’t want to do that to someone special like Conor McGregor. It’s just not right.”
Does Dana still feel the same about Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 3?
