Nate Diaz fears Conor McGregor won't fight Michael Chandler despite the pair agreeing to compete at the end of this year's season of The Ultimate Fighter.
Tensions have flared between McGregor and Chandler on set of the show, which will finish airing this month, but no date has been set for the fight even though it has been announced officially by promotional boss Dana White. And Diaz, with whom the Irishman had an iconic set of fights in 2016, believes that the fight won't happen.
Diaz believes that the UFC were desperate to create a buzz around their year-end schedule after high-profile talent losses that include both he and heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. And he reckons that now they have got their entertaining season of The Ultimate Fighter out of McGregor, the fight may never actually materialise.
“Chandler is a nice guy but he's going to get - he not going to win,” Diaz responded when asked by Mirror Fighting who he thinks will leave the bout victorious, before adding his bombshell: “I don't think they're going to fight though. They are not going to fight. Do you think they're going to fight?
"Does anyone think Conor and Chandler are going to fight? There's no bout agreement and just like the BMF belt [Diaz's custom title that was brought back last weekend for UFC 291] they didn't have nothing to entertain nobody so they're just like 'we've got to bring this up, we've got to put Conor on TV."
UFC champion demands to know how Conor McGregor has become so "jacked"
And Diaz even suggested that McGregor should instead face Justin Gaethje, who picked up the BMF title that was initially created for the winner of a 2019 bout between he and Jorge Masvidal last weekend by defeating Dustin Poirier. The Irishman has had a long-standing feud with the American, and the pair have gone back-and-forth on social media since Saturday's event.
Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor had a legendary set of fights in 2016 (Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)Do you believe Conor McGregor will fight Michael Chandler? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
"I think Conor and Gaethje should fight,” Diaz added. “I think that will probably be next, but Gaethje might just act like he's too cool or something, but it shows how much a nerd he is. He ain’t got nobody to fight. Who is he going to fight? There’s nobody to fight, that’s why I had to step out because there’s nobody to fight.”
McGregor went as far as to declare that Gaethje should say "f*** Chandler" and demand a fight with him, which he has intimated that he will accept. McGregor sent two tweets to Gaethje the first of which read: "Justin, I’ll slap you around." He then added: "I’m the real BMF, he can fight for pennies if he wants but I want spirits. I call the shots, I’m in it to launch shots, f*** Chandler, you want it call for it."
Gaethje initially wasn't interested, although he has since declared McGregor should "sign the contract". In his post-fight press conference he said: "I think he's turned me down six times. So usually you have to lose to fight him so I don't know what's going on... I don't know, you know I don't really care -Whatever, I fight MMA, I like to fight big fights and I like exciting things, it sounds pretty exciting to me."
Nate Diaz fights Jake Paul this weekend live on DAZN PPV and Fite TV in the UK. Action begins at 1am British time
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