Conor McGregor is arguably the biggest star in the UFC today and his fights will surely draw a lot of viewers. Longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan believes the UFC can have an even bigger fight if they make Conor McGregor vs. Nick Diaz this year.
In a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan said that 2017 could be the year the UFC books a very "big money" fight. He noted that the promotion made a mistake when they did not make Conor McGregor vs. Nick Diaz happen last year.
"I think they missed the boat if they wanted to make the fu*king big money. It's Nick Diaz vs. Conor McGregor," Rogan said.
"I think Nick is like, 'Look, I want a big, big name, or a title fight,'" he added.
Conor McGregor vs. Nick Diaz is not a difficult fight to make since they are connected. McGregor already fought Nick's younger brother, Nate, twice last year. Nate defeated McGregor in their first fight in March but the Irishman got his revenge in the rematch last August.
It should be noted that Nick has already been cleared to fight again after serving an 18-month suspension, per MMA Fighting. The 33-year-old fighter was originally handed a five-year suspension and a fine of $165,000 for testing positive for marijuana for the third time.
However, Nick and the Nevada Athletic Commission reached an agreement wherein he was only suspended for 18 months and his fine was reduced to $100,000. His last fight happened on January 31, 2015 at UFC 183 against Anderson Silva.
On the other hand, McGregor is currently on hiatus due to the pending birth of his son sometime in early 2017. He is coming off a big win at UFC 205 against Eddie Alvarez wherein he won the lightweight championship.
According to Rolling Stone, McGregor is the first UFC fighter in history to hold two championships from different weight classes simultaneously. He joined BJ Penn and Randy Couture as the only UFC fighters to win two titles in different weight classes in the promotion's history.
