UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor was scheduled to challenge lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos for his title at UFC 196 on March 5th, but dos Anjos was forced to pull out of the fight after breaking his foot during a training session.
The injury presented UFC president Dana White with a conundrum. Who would be up for the challenge of facing one of the hottest fighters in the industry on short notice?
After a day long search, White announced that Nate Diaz will replace dos Anjos and the fight will be bumped up to welterweight (170 lbs) because Diaz will not have the proper amount of time to complete a weight cut.
It didn’t take very long for Diaz to begin talking trash on Twitter.
Back in December, McGregor called out essentially everyone in the UFC with this tweet:
Diaz clearly didn’t forget about this:
For Diaz this is an opportunity to not only jump to the front of the line for a rematch with dos Anjos – Diaz lost to RDA in December of 2014 – but a chance to become the first man to defeat McGregor in the UFC.
One thing is for certain, the trash talk over the next 10 days is going to be insane. Buckle up.
Twitter: @ScottDargis