Three dimes vs. one quarter.
At first glance, the quarter is certainly the largest thing there. Shinier? Oh, much shinier. But I want to take this opportunity to let you in on a little secret: Cumulatively, the dimes are actually worth more.
I know why UFC brass and various fans were disappointed after UFC 196. When Miesha Tate beat Holly Holm for the women’s bantamweight title and Nate Diaz choked out Conor McGregor to reorder three separate weight divisions, I was able to comprehend why people were so upset.
It’s just that I disagreed with their premise. They can have that quarter. I’ll take the dimes. Allow me to explain with a few back-of-the-envelope calculations here.
Before Tate threw on that rear-naked choke in the final half of the final round in Saturday’s co-main event, how many legitimate title challengers existed inside that division? I was as impressed by Amanda Nunes in the evening’s main card opener as anyone else, but this was a two-woman show. You had Ronda Rousey going for revenge against the only woman to defeat her in Holm. That was the storyline.
That storyline was scuttled. The molten-hot lava that is sure to be this summer’s UFC 200 card lost its biggest potential fight. But does Holm-Rousey 2 suddenly fail to be an interesting fight? I don’t think so. Rousey‘s desire to avenge her only loss is likely to continue burning brightly, even without a belt at stake. And now, on top of that, you have fresh blood in one of the most bitter and public rivalries in UFC history with Tate-Rousey 3.
Oh, and don’t even get me started on Tate-Holm 2.
Oh, and while you’re not even getting me started on things, don’t even get me started on McGregor. Or Diaz.
Wasn’t there something about Robbie Lawler in there, too? Didn’t UFC brass as recently as Thursday acknowledge that the idea of McGregor fighting Lawler—the UFC’s most charismatic fighter versus its most dangerous second-to-second fighter—was “tough to deny” as a matchup?
That matchup feels unlikely after Saturday. However, it also doesn’t feel impossible. Whatever one might wish to say about McGregor in the wake of that submission, he’s still an awfully good fighter. He is still the featherweight champ. He’s still a bubbling cauldron of charisma.
See ya at #UFC200, @TheNotoriousMMA. Your fairy tale is over. You got nowhere to run now. Time to a rematch, pussy. pic.twitter.com/67fmic8qxG
— Jose Aldo Junior (@josealdojunior) March 6, 2016
He could return to featherweight now and defend the belt against Frankie Edgar or Jose Aldo. He could remake the original main event of UFC 196: a lightweight title match with Rafael Dos Anjos. And perhaps 170 pounds is off the table for the foreseeable future, but don’t you think an eventual return to welterweight might turn a couple of heads?
Now, though, we have several new branches on the matchmaking tree.
How about Diaz vs. Lawler?
How about Diaz as an overall contender in the lightweight or welterweight divisions? For all Diaz‘s popularity, neither of those ideas existed in earnest before Saturday. Would you pay money to watch a card that featured Nate Diaz vs. Stephen Thompson or Dos Anjos or Johny Hendricks as its main event? I would now, but probably not before UFC 196.
Ditto for Tate-Rousey 3. That is now must-see TV. Before UFC 196, not so much, given Rousey‘s two lopsided wins in that particular series. And to me, the Rousey-Holm rematch still carries plenty of cache, even if it won’t necessarily happen for a title.
Don’t forget, either, that a Holm-Tate rematch is now awfully compelling down the road.
So, to sum up the math: If chalk had prevailed at UFC 196, we’d be talking about two massive fights in the middle of this year. The combined record of the four fighters in those two fights: 65-16-1.
Because of the prevailing underdogs, we’re now talking about at least nine potential matchups over a theoretically equal time period. Each of these matchups makes immediate sense and could promptly be made. The combined record: 153-34-2.
Perhaps none of those nine would be as monstrous as the originals coming out of the gate, but none of them are small. Each one of them is a dime. At the very least, MMA fans have a quantitative advantage.
Scott Harris writes about MMA for Bleacher Report. For more stuff like this, follow Scott on Twitter.
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