Conor McGregor ignores pleas to return to featherweight and seals Nate Diaz rematch at UFC 200

Conor McGregor will have the chance to avenge his defeat to Nate Diaz with a rematch between the two scheduled to headline UFC 200.

McGregor, 27, suffered the first loss of his UFC career when he was defeated via submission by Diaz at UFC 196 in March.

While the Dublin-born fighter is still the UFC featherweight champion, a title he won from Jose Aldo in December in 2015, he will step up to the 170 pounds welterweight once again to try and stop Diaz on 9 July in Las Vegas.

UFC boss Dana White confirmed the rematch on Twitter, tweeting a graphic of the two alongside the number 200.

Later, speaking on ESPN Sportscenter, White revealed McGregor had been "obsessed" with securing a chance to address the only blemish on his UFC record, despite being urged to return to featherweight.

"He was obsessed – obsessed with fighting Nate Diaz again," White said. "Obviously, [UFC co-owner] Lorenzo [Fertitta] and I tried to argue with him and said: 'Let's go back to 145 [pounds] and defend your title. Or if you really want the Diaz fight that bad, do it at 155 [pounds]'.

"He wants the fight at 170. Even his coach tried to get him to get off the rematch and off the 170-pound fight but it's what he wanted."

McGregor was originally scheduled to take on Rafael dos Anjos for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 196. A foot injury forced the Brazilian to withdraw just 11 days from the contest, however, with McGregor taking the decision to step up to weight classes to fight Diaz instead.