Weighing the UFC 200 Options of Nate Diaz

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've surely heard the news.

MMA superstar Conor McGregor has shocked the world by announcing his retirement, leaving the UFC with no choice but to yank him from his highly-anticipated UFC 200 main event rematch with Nate Diaz. Unsurprisingly, this wild twist has driven the MMA world into a frenzy.

Yet as the world questions McGregor's decision to hang up the gloves, and the expected conspiracy-theories begin to emerge, one also has to wonder where this leaves Diaz who, just weeks after his career-defining win over McGregor, now has no rematch to look forward to at UFC 200.

Of course, Diaz did take to Twitter in the wake of McGregor's world-rocking announcement to suggest that he too would be retiring, but this assertion can probably be taken with a grain of salt. As Dana White suggested in a recent appearance on Sportscenter, the UFC is actively seeking a replacement opponent for him.

This brings us to the one positive detail of McGregor's unexpected retirement: at least it didn't occur two weeks out from fight night. UFC 200 is scheduled for July 9, still more than two months away, which gives the UFC plenty of time to find a replacement, and that replacement a reasonable amount of time to prepare for Diaz. The question is, who might that replacement be?

Well, in this case, there are a lot of variables to consider when weighing the options. The first and foremost of these variables is whether or not the UFC aims to keep Diaz atop the UFC 200 card. If they do, in fact, intend on keeping Diaz in the main event, his opponent will have to be a big name—as close to McGregor's sport-transcending superstardom as possible. Given this, there are only really two choices.

The first is UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler who, though rumored for a late-summer title clash with Tyron Woodley, could be reassigned to UFC 200 to defend his belt against the surging Diaz. The second and final viable choice for Diaz's main event counterpart is Georges St. Pierre, a former welterweight champion, whose comeback from retirement has been rumored for some time. Indeed, either Diaz's challenging Lawler for the belt, or welcoming GSP back to the Octagon looks like a suitable main event for a card of UFC 200's significance. But of course, if GSP does return to competition—which is still far from certain—it's almost guaranteed to be against Lawler. Yes, Lawler and GSP only seem likely to appear on the UFC 200 lineup if it's to fight each other. This, in turn, seems to suggest that, while the UFC is seeking a replacement opponent for Diaz, Diaz will no longer be appearing in the card's main event.

So, if the Stockton slugger is bumped down to the main card, who might he find himself on the canvas with? Well, if he's inclined to stay at welterweight, where his rematch with McGregor was scheduled, he's got some interesting choices—even outside of Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone, who offered to step up, despite a June 18 bout with Patrick Côté.

Diaz might, for example, be paired with Carlos Condit, who recently lost a razor-thin title fight with Lawler. Granted, Condit seems poised to retire if he's not offered a title rematch with Lawler, but a high-profile bout on the UFC 200 main card might be enough to pull him back into the competitive fold. Diaz could also mix it up with the surging Neil Magny who, after creeping into the welterweight top-10, recently shocked the world with a third-round thumping of former Bellator champion Hector Lombard. Just like Cowboy, Magny has also offered to step in against Diaz. And finally, there is Albert Tumenov, a welterweight prospect currently riding a 5-fight streak, who is more than ready for a big step-up in competition. Of course, Tumenov is far from the kind of name that Diaz seems to require to get motivated, but the Russian is surely better than no opponent at all.

Then again, it's worth harkening back to the statements Diaz made in the wake of his upset defeat of McGregor. Though the win occurred at welterweight, he made no secret of his desire to return to the lightweight division, where he wouldn't be competing with his brother Nick for a title shot. So, given that McGregor is now out of the picture, Diaz's replacement bout could well occur in at lightweight. In this event, he has no fewer choices.

He might, for example, find himself on the canvas with Michael Chiesa, a TUF veteran who recently secured the number-9 spot in his division with a come-from-behind defeat of Beneil Dariush. Diaz could also be paired with the red-hot Tony Ferguson, who is currently recovering from the injury that ejected him from a planned bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov last week. Given that Nurmagomedov will be unable to compete at UFC 200 due to Ramadan, and Rafael Dos Anjos and Eddie Alvarez are booked for a title fight on July 7, Ferguson will have to look elsewhere for a top-ranked opponent with which to keep busy. Enter Diaz.

Then, finally, there is perhaps the most compelling of Diaz's UFC 200 options: a scrap with the winner of Anthony Pettis and Edson Barboza, who will collide on the main card of UFC 197 this weekend. Either man would be the kind of high-profile opponent Diaz craves, and both would undoubtedly oblige him in the kind of high-action bout for which he's adored.

McGregor's withdrawal from UFC 200 is an undeniable bummer. Diaz's being left without a date at UFC 200 is an ugly twist in its own right. Yet while the Stockton star is likely to find himself booted from the card's main event without McGregor, the good news is that he's got plenty of other options with which to tango on the main card. Yes, McGregor-mania may have come to a skittering halt, but the Diaz hype-train is likely to rumble through UFC 200 all the same.