http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...fighter-wants-20m-30m-to-fight-conor-mcgregor Nate Diaz wants to earn "at least $20 million, $30 million" if he's to return to the Octagon for the third segment of his trilogy against UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor, according to his boxing coach. Richard Perez appeared on the MMA podcast Submission Radio (h/t TMZ Sports) and suggested Diaz will be seeking a much bigger cut in order to lace up against The Notorious for a third time: "At least $20 million, $30 million. Come on. UFC’s making a whole lot of money. "They’re giving more to McGregor, so it’s not fair because it takes two in that ring to draw a crowd." Following a 10th-round TKO defeat to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in McGregor's professional boxing debut on Saturday, attention will naturally turn to what's next for him, and a UFC comeback appears the most likely route. Furthermore, MMAFighting.com reporter Ariel Helwani suggested after McGregor's loss to Mayweather that Diaz currently stands as the favourite to hand the Irishman his return to the UFC: November will mark the one-year anniversary of McGregor's knockout of former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez to become the promotion's first dual-weight titleholder, but he's yet to defend his belt since. A lightweight title defence makes sense. After fighting at the welterweight limit of 170 pounds in each of his first two fights against Diaz, McGregor told BBC News (h/t MMAFighting.com) a third meeting will have to take place at 155 pounds, where he currently reigns: "I'm the 155-pound champion, I faced him at 170, he beat me, then I rematched him at 170, I beat him. Now I'm the 155-pound world champion. If he wants that fight, he must come down. That's a fair trade. I didn't ask for the rematch at a lower weight, I asked for the rematch at the exact same weight. I thought that was a fair play move on my half and then I came in and I won. So now I won that, then I won the 155-pound title after that. If he wants to fight, he's got to make that 155-pound limit." That means not only would Diaz and McGregor likely fight for big bucks should they meet for the final segment of their trilogy, but there could also be a belt on the line for both fighters. MMA Junkie's John Morgan recently hinted this could make the matchup opportunity too good to turn down: The Daily Star's Chisanga Malata reported McGregor raked in a purse of $30 million (£23 million) for his loss to Mayweather, a lot more than he makes fighting in the UFC but the kind of earnings he'll be determined to maintain in future fights. Diaz's trainer, Perez, clearly senses the opportunity ahead of his fighter, and Diaz's MMA absence since losing to McGregor in August 2016 may suggest he's holding out for the payday chance of his career.
That's very reasonable and it's the only fight Mcgregor should be going after in the UFC. Trilogy fight, tied 1-1. Would be huge. Nate Diaz is asking for the right price giving the numbers it would do
Nate hasn't done shit since their last fight. Would I watch it? Sure. But Conor needs to defend his belt against someone that deserves the shot or vacate. I say that as a huge conor fan. So many more interesting fights to see how he stacks up. I'd rather see him fight Tony Ferguson, Kevin Lee, Khabib Nurmagomadev (understand why he wouldn't at this time though. Pull-out merchant), Justin Gaethje if he beats Alvarez. And if he did vacate, I would rather see him fight Woodley for the ww belt, Max Holloway for the fw belt (but I don't see him cutting to 145 again), or GSP.
I agree. Nate hasn't even fought anyone since McGregor beat him in Aug of 2016. 2-2 record since 2014. http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/history/_/id/2335679/nate-diaz
The question is, how much does mate move the ppv numbers vs if Conner fought another top contender. I don't think much. In the end Nate will get a 5M payday and that's life.
I'm not sure it would be much more than many either. Khabib in Russia might be more. McGregor vs. Woodley might be more. McGregor vs. GSP would certainly be more. Tbh I think Ferguson vs. Conor would be close. Nick Diaz vs. Conor would likely be more. Nate isn't the attraction.
UFC is all about money fights now, I agree he needs to defend but the fight that makes sense is a trilogy fight. I don't even know who he would defend against since Khabib isn't reliable, Tony Ferguson I guess if he wins his own upcoming fight
It should be Kevin Lee or Tony Ferguson. Whoever wins the interim lightweight title. If conor fights Dec 30th that should be enough time or close to it because the interim fight is October 7th. Conor is the money fight. It will sell no matter who he fights. Gsp is the only dude he could fight that would be ridiculous in ppv buys.
It should be but personally I want to see a trilogy fight. Tony Ferguson would be good though. I would pick Khabib but dude obviously has issues making weight otherwise that would be massive with the russian fan base and irish fan base
