UFC welterweight Nate Diaz slammed his longtime rival Conor McGregor following McGregor’s former teammates remarkable loss at Bellator 271.
James Gallagher, a former SBG Ireland teammate of Conor McGregor, took on Patchy Mix in front of a home crowd in Dublin, Ireland. When Mix submitted Gallagher via guillotine choke in round three, Nate Diaz took to Instagram to air his thoughts on the matter.
Nate Diaz Blasts McGregor Over Former Teammate’s Bellator Loss
“This always happens to the McGregors”, read Diaz’s Instagram story. It’s not clear if Nate Diaz thinks James Gallagher is Conor McGregor or simply resembles him, but Diaz’s reference was clear.
Of course, Nate Diaz was talking about his first fight with Conor McGregor. At the time, Diaz was the first man in the UFC to defeat Conor, who was surging through the featherweight division.
In March 2016, McGregor lost to Diaz via rear naked choke, a surprise to many fans who believed McGregor unassailable at the time. Since then, Conor lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov, who used the same finish to submit the Irishman at their lightweight title fight in 2018.
Conor McGregor has maintained bad blood with both Diaz and Nurmagomedov ever since, perhaps in the hope of rematches. He got his wish, edging out a bloody five-round firefight with Diaz in their second fight, winning the match by decision. Nurmagomedov, happy in retirement, shows no signs of returning to the Octagon, least of all to fight McGregor.
Although Diaz’s jab implied a familial relationship between Conor McGregor and James Gallagher, this is not the case. They aren’t related, and although they both trained under John Kavanagh at SBG Ireland in Dublin, Gallagher has since relocated to Glory MMA and Fitness under UFC fighter James Krause.
Their fighting styles are remarkably distinct, too. McGregor, famously, is a striking-oriented fighter, preferring knockouts and stand-up game to anything else. James Gallagher, on the other hand, almost exclusively uses his prodigious Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, although in this case he came off second-best.
Perhaps this is the opening salvo of a long-awaited trilogy fight between McGregor and Diaz. Certainly, with both riding losing streaks, and McGregor eyeing the welterweight division from his broken-leg rehab, it could go ahead. It’s arguable that these fan favorites are both well past their primes and a big-money grudge match could see them both into retirement.
Do you want to see McGregor vs Diaz 3 in future? Let us know in the comments.
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