Conor McGregor Says He'll Fight Khamzat Chimaev In Now-Deleted Twitter Exchange With Nate Diaz

Conor McGregor has talked up a potential fight against unbeaten rising star Khamzat Chimaev in a recently-deleted post; a match-up that old foe Nate Diaz originally suggested on Twitter.

Earlier this week, Diaz, who has one fight left on his current UFC contract, claimed he turned down the chance to fight "rookie" welterweight Chimaev.

"They're coming at me with [Chimaev], and I'm like, 'Hold on, don't disrespect me like that, trying to offer me a fight with a rookie,'" Diaz told TMZ. "I'm cool, you got four fights in the UFC. Don't even talk my name."

Chimaev then responded to Diaz's comments with a flurry of social media posts.

"You fake gangster @NateDiaz209," he wrote on Twitter. "I don't care who to fight I'm coming for everybody, where are you all the gangsters and kings? I'm here to kill everyone. I'm the king here. I'm a gangster here."

In another post, he said The Stockton Slugger was "the easiest money" for him.

On Friday night, Diaz then suggested that 'Kamrat' should go up against old rival Conor McGregor. He even labelled it a "great idea".

"Let him fight kamrat," the 36-year-old American wrote. "That be a great fight to make. He needs a easy new guy to fight anyway he can taper back in and see if he can even still fight at all."

The Irishman has been out of action since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July, while Chimaev's last bout was a first-round victory over Li Jingliang at UFC 267 in October.

McGregor quickly responded, saying: "No problem, bitch"

Not to be outdone, Diaz hit back. "Good job do what ur told... BITCH." before the Irish fighter wrote: "Two sugars" in reference to an old quote from McGregor when he said go fetch him his coffee.

Image credit: Twitter

Earlier this week, UFC president Dana White claimed that some UFC fighters are 'afraid' to fight Chimaev.

"Nobody wants to fight this guy," he said via BJ Penn. "Everybody wants to get out on social media and say this or say that.

"But when it really comes down to it, nobody's trying to fight Khamzat Chimaev. I don't blame them.

"But at the end of the day when you're a professional fighter - this is what you do - you should look at a guy with as much hype and as much bravado as Chimaev has, as a huge opportunity."

White also claimed McGregor is "chomping at the bit" to return to the Octagon.

"He's chomping at the bit to get back in there and compete again," White said on The Jim Rome Podcast this week.

"It's going to be a while before he can put some torque on that leg. April. For him to start training again in April is probably about right.

"I don't know (how badly he wants it)," White added. "He obviously still has the desire to compete. You don't ever hear Conor going, 'You know what, man? I just don't have the desire for this anymore.'

"You know what I mean? He's obviously very rich, and he's training like Rocky in 'Rocky III,' but he still has the desire to compete and the desire to fight, and we'll see what happens."

Topics: Conor Mcgregor, Nate Diaz, Khamzat Chimaev, UFC

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

@jackkenmare_