Chael Sonnen has backed Conor McGregor to face Nate Diaz (Image credit: Getty)
UFC legend Chael Sonnen was speaking to Ariel Helwani on their show and explained why Nate Diaz facing Conor McGregor made sense.
Helwani started off the conversation by suggesting that Jorge Masvidal will not fight McGregor next.
The MMA journalist claimed that Nate Diaz is the right opponent for The Notorious One. McGregor returned to the Octagon after his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov more than a year ago.
The Irishman looked in good shape and Sonnen agreed with Diaz being the next opponent for McGregor.
Sonnen also backed up the statement by explaining why Nurmagomedov would not be the next fight for McGregor:
“I am sold.
“Dana White comes out and tells us its Khabib. Well, here’s why we have to meet that with a little resistance. When Conor sees it as a real thing, Conor-mania is a real thing and the dates for Khabib are conflicting.”
The former UFC fighter added that the month of Ramadan would mean that Nurmagomedov won’t fight for a while.
Sonnen also did not believe that Khabib’s next fight, against Tony Ferguson, would be easy:
“Listen, he’s got a big task in front of him which is Tony Ferguson. I don’t know if we can make believe that Khabib is going to win that fight.
“Either way, he then goes into Ramadan and is out until September. So we would be putting the brakes on Conor-mania until September, and by the way, Khabib has to get through this (Ferguson) man, who many people, including Khabib, recognise as a real challenge.”
“That seems to be too big of a risk for me to be willing to take when Conor is hot right now.”
Jorge Masvidal had been talked about as a possible opponent for McGregor. However, Sonnen agreed with Helwani by saying that the BMF champion needed to face Kamaru Usman.
That would leave only one option for McGregor, a third fight with Nate Diaz:
“I do think that Masvidal vs Usman makes a ton of sense. You’ve got the Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior. They are both wearing belts. You kinda need to put these guys together, and it does seem as though Nate Diaz can solve all of these problems.
“I think we can agree and concede that those guys are going to fight again. The trilogy is going to happen again.”
Sonnen ended by saying that the match should be made soon given that “Khabib is tied up with Tony”.
Diaz is 1-1 against McGregor and a third fight could be an excellent clash for the UFC to push.
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The 35-year-old Diaz lost to Masvidal in his last fight at UFC 244.
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