A late change in opponent doesn’t typically lead to a change in career trajectory.
That’s just more evidence that Conor McGregor is not your typical fighter.
At UFC 196, which went down Saturday from Las Vegas, McGregor was competing in a weight class he hadn’t tried in the UFC before. He originally had a shot to make history, as the reigning featherweight champ made a run at lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos and two-division dominance.
McGregor, who held two title belts while competing in Europe, is clearly someone who wants to make big statements. After Dos Anjos pulled out with a foot injury, the potential statement grew even bigger when the Irishman moved up yet another division to welterweight, where Nate Diaz agreed to take the fight on less than two weeks’ notice.
Therein lies McGregor‘s new career path. Even as he spent the week matching invective with the wildly popular Diaz, the name of welterweight champion Robbie Lawler suddenly began to bubble up, overtaking Dos Anjos as the favored target of the moment. Even UFC brass got behind (h/t Sherdog) the idea.
But first, there was Diaz, a dangerous boxer and jiu-jitsu ace. Did McGregor turn the Lawler talk up to 10, or was Diaz the one to finally quash McGregor‘s Big Mo?
Oh, and Holly Holm—remember her?—defended her women’s bantamweight title for the first time, facing Miesha Tate in the co-main event.
There were 10 other fights on this card, and as always, the final stat lines only reveal so much. These are the real winners and losers from UFC 196.
For the literal-minded among us, full card results appear on the final slide.