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Conor McGregor has revealed that Nate Diaz was supposed to be his rival coach on this upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter.
Production into season 31 of the popular television series is already underway and mixed martial arts fans can't wait.
As we now know, McGregor will be going head-to-head with lightweight contender Michael Chandler in what promises to be fireworks both in the octagon when they finally fight and during the actual show itself.
But it turns out Chandler, who famously called out McGregor after viciously KO'ing Tony Ferguson, perhaps wasn't first-in-line to compete against the Irishman.
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“Coach The Ultimate Fighter and fight Chandler? No. The Ultimate Fighter kind of presented itself, it was originally supposed to be against Nate,” McGregor told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour.
“It was me vs. Nate, I had agreed. I didn’t mind who it was against, nor do I mind who I compete against. That is widely known, I had agreed to it, it was Nate. It was like a day or two before and now it’s Chandler, so I’m not sure what went down on that end. But, it is me vs. Chandler and that’s it, I have no problem with it, I’m happy with it and it’s going to be a good bout for sure.”
Helwani then asked the former dual-division champion if he was disappointed that it wasn't his age-old rival Diaz.
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“No, I’ll get that again,” McGregor added.
“We will get that trilogy, that trilogy will happen at some stage for sure… we must fight. We are one apiece, it was a great rivalry and it was a great fight, so we have to square that away for sure.”
When MMAFighting.com posted the clip to social media, it instantly exploded.
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One fan replied: "I like Chandler but McGregor and Diaz on TUF would have been top tier TV."
While another added: "Damn that would have been sweet."
As a third said: "If they would’ve announced Nate vs Conor as TUF coaches I would have literally f**king cried."
McGregor is on the brink of making a comeback which could break all television and social media viewing numbers.
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But at 34 years of age, McGregor's shelf life at the very top is limited – not in his eyes, though.
“What do I hope for in this world? I hope for 100 fights. I hope for 100 more fights,” McGregor told Barstool Sports’ “My Mom’s Basement” with Robbie Fox.
“I’m working for consistency. I’ve been having this on, off, on, off nonsense for too long, via fight politics, via injuries, via just life. It does happen. It’s God’s plan. It’s all God, so I accept and understand it. But I’m excited and hopeful that I can get a nice consecutive run of bouts.
Topics: MMA, UFC, Nate Diaz, Conor McGregor, Ariel Helwani
Max Sherry