UFC news, rumors — Nate Diaz passes on Conor McGregor trilogy for now: ‘He got a lot of work to do’

Nate Diaz says Conor McGregor has some work to do if the former two-division champion wants to earn his money fight. Diaz and McGregor are split one apiece in their series, but the Stockton native does not intend to fight out his UFC contract with the Irishman.

Diaz shocked the world by stopping McGregor at UFC 196 in March 2016. The bitter rivals squared up again in August for that year with McGregor squeaking out a majority decision. Diaz appeared on the red carpet for Shaquille O’Neal’s “Fun House” party over Super Bowl weekend and addressed a potential trilogy fight.

“Not right now,” Diaz told Adam’s Apple. “He [has] got a lot of work to do.

“I’m on the last fight of my contract right now. I would like to fight Dustin Poirier now — now. Next month when s— changes and people win and start doing something entertaining or something going, then it’s going to be all different.”

Diaz, a prolific online trash talker, revealed that he actually doesn’t consume much content on social media. He sees Twitter as a means to an end.

“Only because I can’t physically get to them, otherwise I’ve gotta spit it on the thing,” Diaz said. “I don’t know. I don’t even look at that. That s— is obnoxious to me, but for me, I’ve got a bigger following than the rest of the people, and they’re not letting me fight. So what I gotta do? I gotta s— on them from the Internet.”

Shak’s take: Poirier vs. Diaz is the lightweight fight fans, and both guys, are calling for right now. The beauty of Diaz vs. McGregor III is that it doesn’t age out. That rivalry will always sell. In terms of matchmaking, McGregor is the more winnable match-up for Diaz. I’d like for Diaz to consider both options, but Nate Diaz wouldn’t be Nate Diaz if he cared what I thought. That’s why we love him.

• Kayla Harrison’s free agency continues to be a hot topic in the world of MMA. The two-time PFL women’s lightweight champion was expected to resign with PFL, but those negotiations have gotten complicated. “Other things have happened and there’s some last-minute things happening behind closed doors that I’m not entirely sure now what’s going to happen,” Harrison told ESPN. “I have two kids now, so for me, as hard as it is, security comes first. I have to make sure. There’s no guarantees in this life. There’s no certainties. I could snap my neck tomorrow and never fight again. Security is important. But if I can find a way to have security and continue to build my legacy, I think that’s a winner.” Harrison is cautiously warming up to a potential move down to bantamweight. “I’m considering it,” Harrison said. “I heard that Julianna [Pena] said she’d move up to 145 if they paid her enough, so that’s good news. That means I don’t have to chop off an arm.”
• Henry Cejudo sees gaps in UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya’s game that rising welterweight contender Khamzat Chimaev can exploit. Cejudo, a former Olympic gold medalist and two-division UFC champion, examined Adesanya and Chimaev in the aftermath of UFC 271. “I believe Chimaev is just a whole other animal, dude. His wrestling, his confidence. I mean, this dude — from what I’ve heard from a lot of people, this dude literally trains like nobody has ever seen before. When you’re a wrestler, and you’re like that, and he’s driven, I don’t think there’s nobody on the planet,” Cejudo said on The Triple C & Schmo Show. ” I can see him easily beating Israel Adesanya.”