Nate Diaz believes Conor McGregor would have beaten Khabib Nurmagmedov if he had accepted a trilogy bout.
Diaz fought McGregor in two instalments of their illustrious rivalry, coming out on top in their opening meeting back in 2016 before the Irishman avenged the defeat later that year. McGregor went on to make a switch to the boxing ring, losing to Floyd Mayweather, before suffering a defeat on his UFC return against bitter rival Nurmagomedov.
McGregor and Diaz have been heavily linked to facing in each other in a trilogy bout for several years, especially as the pair have suffered significant recent declines in form. Diaz believes such a fight would have taught McGregor how to not get choked out, which would have prevented him falling to submission defeat against Nurmagomedov. "McGregor was too amateur to be fighting Floyd Mayweather," Diaz said when talking about a trilogy with his rival on the MMA Hour.
"Floyd Mayweather went and showed the blueprint to beat him, let him punch himself out and in the 10th round he beat his a**. I did that right before him. Then he went and got choked out by Khabib. If he would’ve finished the trilogy with me, he would’ve learned how to not get choked. If he would have finished the trilogy with me, he would have learned how to not punch himself out.
"He could have got better but he didn't. He jumped the line and skipped the queue and they helped him by fighting Mayweather. No one has helped me the whole time, I have been relevant in the sport the whole time. I am still relevant in the sport now without even trying, I haven't even had a fight."
McGregor fought Mayweather in the second highest-selling event in combat-sports history but was defeated, which many blame for his recent decline in MMA. McGregor went on to lose to Nurmagomedov in the cage, being submitted by a shuddering choke before taking a two-year hiatus from the sport.
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The Irishman's decline continued despite making a winning return against Donald Cerrone; he was defeated on two consecutive occasions by Dustin Poirier last year. He is now making a recovery from the broken leg he suffered in the second of the meetings and is eyeing a return to 170lb.
One of his options was expected to be a third meeting with Diaz, who has just one fight remaining on his contract with the UFC. The American previously appeared open to settling their rivalry once and for all but subsequently backtracked and insisted he would rather be released than face McGregor again.
Diaz believes his "timeline" does not fit alongside McGregor's despite the UFC's ambition to make the fight. “They don’t want to let me out of my contract,” he continued. “They want me to fight Conor. I’m not fighting Conor McGregor right now. Our timelines aren’t matching up. You bring yourself back to life, and I’ll be back later.”
