Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather Updates & Rumors: Nate Diaz Says Crossover Fight is Just a Publicity Stunt

May 26, 2016 09:47 AM EDT

Nate Diaz doesn't believe that the fight between MMA fighter Conor McGregor and boxing champ Floyd Mayweather Jr. will ever happen. And, it seems the "Ultimate Fighter 5" winner is right since according to sources, the crossover matchup is nothing but a hyped up publicity event for Mayweather and McGregor.

Diaz was supposed to face off against McGregor at UFC 200, which was supposed to be a rematch due to the loss the Irish fighter suffered at the hands of the American mixed martial artist at UFC 196. However, McGregor was ejected from the fight card because he refused to go to Las Vegas to promote the event.

But now, these two are all set to go head-to-head at UFC 202 in August of this year. However, even though the highly anticipated match is still two months away, McGregor is already making headlines because of his rumored fight against Mayweather.

For Diaz though, this is just a publicity stunt to help introduce Mayweather to MMA fans and McGregor to boxing followers.

"I think the Mayweather thing is a publicity stunt," he told the MMA Hour according to ESPN. "It's great for both of them. Boxing followers will start following Conor, MMA followers are going to start following Floyd."

"They're all benefiting, and no one is losing, so they're going to keep the ball rolling," he added.

It seems Diaz is right about calling the match a publicity stunt since according to Irish website Balls.ie, the camps of McGregor and Mayweather had made a secret arrangement to orchestrate everything related to the fight.

According to the site, this happened in December of last year when Al Haymon, Mayweather's adviser, met with McGregor's people in Las Vegas. Since McGregor had just won the UFC Featherweight title back then, the two parties it would be a great idea to publicly talk about a fantasy fight to build the hype surrounding the two athletes.

In other words, what fight fans are seeing today, which is the constant back and forth between Mayweather and McGregor, is just part of their strategies to further build up their names. Sadly, though, this means the fight will never take place.