Mayweather-McGregor: Nate Diaz back in the spotlight; Conor McGregor trilogy next?

Andreas Hale

Although Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor had the spotlight during their epic Saturday evening in Las Vegas, there was another fighter who had a vested interest in the outcome and made sure that his presence was felt.

MMA fighter Nate Diaz, who owns a victory over Conor McGregor and is a key component in what would be a highly anticipated rubber match, was captured on video engaging in a heated argument with former UFC fighter turned Showtime analyst Brendan Schaub over McGregor’s performance. As you can imagine, Diaz was not impressed.

It’s difficult to make out what’s being said but it is clear that the two are disagreeing on what McGregor accomplished before being stopped in the 10th round of their superfight. Diaz implied that Mayweather didn’t put much effort into putting away the UFC lightweight champion while Schaub believes that the Irishman did well in his first professional fight. In the end, Diaz gave Schaub the middle finger with an expletive before the video ended.

Diaz was also backstage with Mayweather and took a photo with the 50-0 fighter.

Diaz and Mayweather have been friendly in the past and there were rumors that Diaz would accompany Mayweather to the ring against McGregor. That didn’t happen but Diaz made sure everyone knew which side he was on.

McGregor is likely to head back to the UFC for his next fight. He’s expected to defend his lightweight title against the winner of the Tony Ferguson vs. Kevin Lee interim title fight at UFC 216 on Oct. 7th in Las Vegas. However, the money fight would be the trilogy with Diaz. The Stockton fighter won their initial bout at UFC 196 last March by second round submission and McGregor won the rematch at UFC 202 last August. Both fights performed exceptionally well in the PPV department and the third fight will likely outperform both with McGregor’s showing against Mayweather.

More Mayweather-McGregor coverage from Yahoo Sports:
• Mayweather picks up big TKO win over McGregor
• McGregor unhappy with stoppage: ‘Let the man put me down!’
• Sports world reacts to Mayweather’s 50th career win
• Why was Floyd Mayweather wearing a ski mask?