Urijah Faber says he accepted a fight with Conor McGregor at UFC 196 before Nate Diaz stepped in

SHANGHAI – Oh, what could’ve been …

The intense rivalry between UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) and Nate Diaz (19-11 MMA, 14-9 UFC) could’ve been one between McGregor and Urijah Faber (34-10 MMA, 10-6 UFC).

Faber spilled the little-known scoop at a fan Q&A session today in China ahead of the ceremonial weigh-ins for UFC Fight Night 122, which takes place Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai. The entire card streams on UFC Fight Pass. Faber was attending as a guest fighter.

Faber fought for UFC bantamweight titles four times in his career and is a former WEC featherweight champion. He retired nearly a year ago after a career spanning more than 13 years. In 44 fights, he only had two losses that weren’t in title fights.

“Actually, a lot of people don’t know that I was offered a fight with Conor McGregor – the same fight that Nate Diaz got,” Faber said today when a fan asked him if there are any fights he regrets not getting. “And I was going to go up two weight classes and fight him on three weeks’ notice.”

Faber said UFC President Dana White offered the fight with McGregor to him, which would have made some amount of sense given the two coached opposite each other on Season 2 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” which had aired the previous fall. But Faber said McGregor had other ideas.

“Dana said he was going to give that fight to me, and Conor wanted Nate – and you saw what happened there,” Faber said.

What happened there came at UFC 196 in March 2016. McGregor, then the featherweight champion, was scheduled to fight then-lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos in an attempt to become the UFC’s first concurrent two-division champion. When dos Anjos pulled out with a foot injury as the fight drew closer, it was Diaz who stepped in to fight McGregor in a welterweight bout.

Faber said the fight would’ve been a big one for him financially.

“That would’ve been a good pay day, and it would’ve been a lot of fun,” he said. “I like Conor a lot, but as you know he’s a good fight for anybody these days. It would’ve been nice to have had that fight even though it would’ve been up two weight classes and on short notice. I’m always game for a challenge like that.”

Faber said his strategy had he fought McGregor would’ve been similar to what went down with Diaz. When the fight hit the ground, Diaz was able to submit McGregor with a rear-naked choke in the second round for a big upset.

The two then ran their fight back at UFC 202 in August 2016, and in the rematch McGregor won a majority decision in a 25-minute brawl.

“He’s a lot bigger than I am,” Faber said. “I probably would’ve been faster and much better on the ground. So it would’ve been about game plan. I would’ve done everything in my power not to catch a clean one to the chin and try to get him to the ground.”

As it stands now, though, Faber said he’s content in his retirement. He’s still a fixture around the sport, cornering fighters from the Team Alpha Male gym he founded in Sacramento, Calif.

Could he be talked into coming back? It sounds like the right kind of fight could do it.

“Right now, I’m retired,” Faber said. “If somebody comes at me with a great offer and entices me to fight, I’m always willing to do so, I think, just because it’s in my blood – it’s what I like to do. But I’m enjoying retirement. It’s been fun, it’s been busy, and I’ve got the next generation from my team that are kicking butt.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.