The door seems very much open for one of the most anticipated trilogy fights in MMA history.
Conor McGregor took to Instagram on Tuesday to congratulate Nate Diaz for his win over Anthony Pettis at UFC 241 on Saturday night. The former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion waited until Tuesday to write it, because it is the three-year anniversary of UFC 202 — the second fight between McGregor and Diaz.
In the post, McGregor wrote that Diaz’s performance motivated him for his own comeback. He added that he was evaluating Diaz in the event of another bout between the two of them. Diaz beat McGregor at UFC 196 in March 2016 by second-round submission. McGregor evened the score five months later via majority decision. Both cards were among the top pay-per-view events in UFC history from a financial perspective. Diaz had not fought since UFC 202 before Saturday night.
“I loved the round 3 style from round 1 that you implemented,” McGregor wrote. “It’s what I was hoping you would implement for this bout and was glad to see you do it. I’ll be prepared for it when we go again. If we go again.”
Diaz didn’t call out McGregor following his win. He turned his attention to Jorge Masvidal, who is coming off a five-second knockout of Ben Askren at UFC 239 last month. It was the fastest finish in UFC history. McGregor noted that Diaz did not mention his name.
“I don’t blame you not mentioning me for the trilogy bout post fight, you know what I’m like when I get going,” McGregor wrote. “Vicious.”
McGregor, 31, is the biggest moneymaker in UFC history. He does not yet have a fight scheduled. The Irish slugger has not fought since losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 last October.
Over the last few months, McGregor has been in the news several times, all for outside-the-cage incidents. Last week, video emerged of him punching an older man in a Dublin bar. In March, McGregor was arrested after allegedly smashing a man’s cellphone outside a Miami club. Those charges were later dropped. That same month, the New York Times reported that McGregor was under investigation for sexual assault in Ireland.