At least 10 fighters had thrown their hats in the ring to take Rafael dos Anjos’ place at UFC 196 before it was decided that Nate Diaz would meet Conor McGregor at welterweight.
With just ten days to prepare, the UFC rushed to get the wheels in motion and a press conference was set for Wednesday night when ‘The Notorious’ explained how he arrived at the Diaz fight.
“Nate for me was the leading option,” McGregor said. “There were many, many options but, in reality, many people pretended like they wanted the fight until the fight actually presented itself.
“Frankie never shut up and then when he was given a phonecall and a date, he hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
“Jose also. Apparently Jose was in camp, preparing in case dos Anjos pulls out then, all of a sudden, dos Anjos pulls out with his bruised foot and then Jose is not fit.
“Even Nate tried to exit the fight cleanly. There was many discussions. The first discussion was the money issue, we resolved the money issue.
“Then it was that he could only make 160 lbs so we said 160 lbs. Then he came back, he could only make 165 lbs. So then I told him to get comfortable, that he could step on the scales at 170 lbs and that’s it. We’re going to go and fight and I look forward to it.
“It’s one the fans want and I’m happy to give the fans what they ask for.”
The UFC featherweight champion went on to criticise Dos Anjos for pulling out of the fight for a foot injury that McGregor described as no more than a bruise.
“I just thought it’s another day,” McGregor said. “It’s always happening, they always pull, they always run. They always make out like they wanted but really they don’t want it.
“I was expecting it. I looked at the picture that dos Anjos put up and it’s a bruise. I heard ice works wonders, what do you want me to say.
“It was another day. I got a phonecall saying ‘hey guess what? Another guy’s out. We have a couple of guys that may be able to get in.’
“OK, let’s work to get the other guy and that’s it. Another day for me.”
