Absolutely nobody was surprised when a rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz was confirmed by the UFC shortly after their original clash.
Not an eyelid was batted when it was announced as the main event of the promotion’s landmark UFC 200 event.
But plenty of eyebrows were raised when it emerged that the bout would also be taking place at welterweight.
At UFC 196, the initial meeting of McGregor and Diaz, 170 lbs was decided upon due to the fact that the Stockton lightweight only had 11 days to prepare for the fight and would not have had sufficient time to make the lightweight limit for which McGregor was aiming.
Many found it bizarre that, for the second fight in a row, the reigning featherweight champion and a ranked lightweight would contest a bout at 170 lbs.
According to the company, McGregor insisted on replicating the exact conditions of his UFC 196 defeat and, even when the rematch was rescheduled for UFC 202 in August, it remained a welterweight tilt.
At a press conference in Las Vegas on Thursday, ‘The Notorious’ was asked why he decided against meeting Diaz at lightweight in the rematch and his rationale was rather admirable.
He said: “What kind of fighter would I be if I lost a contest at a specific weight against a specific individual and then I said ‘well, you got me this time. Cut a load of weight and I’ll get you at that weight.’
“It makes sense for me to have the contest at 170 lbs to right the wrong, to leave no questions.
“This is the one. This is where I put everything to rest.”
A victory for McGregor on August 20 would lead to the possible need for a rubber match, a third scrap to put the rivalry to bed, and the Irishman revealed that that’s how he sees this feud playing out.
“I feel it will enter into a trilogy fight,” McGregor said. “Why not? It was a great fight the last time and I really enjoyed it.
“I’ll correct that win, I’ll reclaim this (featherweight belt) and let all those featherweights know, who are praying that I don’t come back.
“I don’t understand how they could even say I’m not coming back, like I’ve missed weight before. I’ve never missed weight in my life. Not only have I never missed weight but I’ve made championship weight when I wasn’t even fighting for a championship belt.
“I’ll beat Nate, get that win back, dominate my division again and then we’ll re-talk for the trilogy fight with Nate so yeah, I believe this will be a trilogy fight.”
