Conor McGregor dicusses the reason why he suddenly lost respect for Nate Diaz

We want a trilogy.

You want a trilogy. The moneymaking potential would lead you to believe that both Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz should want a trilogy. So hopefully that comes to fruition before the career paths of both men grow any further apart. We were treated to one of the greatest rivalries in UFC history in 2016 as McGregor and Diaz went 1-1 in their pair of welterweight clashes. Diaz shocked the world by coming in on days notice to submit 'The Notorious' in the Irishman's first defeat in the Octagon at UFC 196 before McGregor avenged that loss with a gruelling majority decision over his Stockton foe in August. Talk has quietened about the rubber match; due in no small part to McGregor's new status as UFC lightweight champion, his decision to step away from the sport for a number of months and his continued toying with the notion of stepping through the ropes to meet Floyd Mayweather. Diaz is not in McGregor's immediate future, that much is clear, but the Dubliner admits that he still thinks of the former TUF winner and, in fact, it's got to do with Diaz's new friendship with Mayweather. Last month, footage emerged of Diaz speaking with the retired boxing great via Facetime in a conversation during which the pair took shots at McGregor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_uZY63U_PE And that, according to 'The Notorious', was the final straw.

"Nate’s a bitch. Nate’s a fucking bitch, and let me tell you why," McGregor said at a Q&A event in Manchester this weekend. "I had the biggest respect for Nate – and I still have big respect for Nick, he’s out doing his thing – but when [Nate] took that phone call or that video call from Floyd Mayweather, and was like, ‘hello Floyd’s fans,’ he was Floyd’s bitch that night. I was like, you fucking pussy. You absolute pussy.

"When he had that video call, he should’ve been on the other end of that line, and when Floyd was saying ‘you made McGregor tap out,’ he’s like, ‘yeah I did,’ and Floyd is saying, ‘I’m going to finish the job’ — he should’ve said, ‘shut your fucking mouth or I’ll strangle you too,’ and then post that everywhere.

"And then all of a sudden, it would’ve been like, fuck Floyd. It would’ve be me and Nate again. But he was Floyd’s bitch that night. He was Floyd’s employee that night. So look, fuck Nate. Fuck Nick. Fuck the Diaz brothers. And if you want to be down with the Diaz brothers, then fuck you too."