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Fat morons notwithstanding.

If Conor McGregor was able to dispose of Nate Diaz in the UFC 196 pay-per-view (PPV) main event, which took place last Saturday night (March 5, 2016) in Las Vegas, Nevada, then “Notorious” was in line for a potential title shot against Robbie Lawler at UFC 200.

Or, as crazy as it sounds, a one-off against Georges St. Pierre, who was in “Sin City” for UFC 196.

But neither fight is going to happen because McGregor was submitted by Diaz in the second round of their short-notice affair. To make matters worse, from a business perspective, the “Notorious” defeat came a few minutes after Holly Holm was choked out by Miesha Tate, killing Holm’s immediate rematch with Ronda Rousey.

There goes that promoter’s license!

Despite previous comments to the contrary, UFC President Dana White insists he’s not mad about losing a pair of gargantuan paydays, because the only thing that really matters to him is whether or not the mixed martial arts (MMA) fans are happy (lol).

From his conversation with Jim Rome:

“People are nuts, are you kidding me? Think about what Mayweather-Pacquiao was advertised to be, and then look at what it was. There’s nobody walking away from Saturday night, whether you went to a bar, you stayed home and bought it on pay-per-view, or you bought a ticket to this fight, nobody left that arena unhappy. That’s what matters to me man. I look at Anthony Kiedis and say [McGregor] might be the greatest guy to ever do this, ever. And then you see in the second, you see he’s starting to gas out, and he’s starting to get tired. Nate is busted up, he’s been hit with everything but the kitchen sink, and then he starts to come back. If you’re a fan of fighting, these are the moments in fighting you live for. I mean, Saturday, both the co-main and main events, the things that happened in those fights, if you’re a combat sports fan, or just somebody it spilled over to you and you tuned in that night, these are the moments you live for.”

UFC 196 delivered, no doubt about it.

The good news is, both McGregor and Rousey can still draw, which means upcoming rematches — Aldo for McGregor and Tate for Rousey — will make up for lost business. Probably not as much as what could have been with UFC 196 victories, but that’s what makes this sport so fun.

Well, most of the time.

Michael Hutchinson looks at the many errors that come from big news outlets covering the niche sport of MMA.

When an event like UFC 196 happens, MMA fans get to cherish that our little niche sport gets to be the focus of the public eye for a weekend. With the good always comes the bad.

You have to listen to your friends who only watch the big PPV events give their uninformed but strong opinions on who’s going to win. Even worse than that, you have to listen to mainstream sports shows discuss the sport in a less than educated manner.

Then there are the many errors that occur when mainstream media outlets attempt to report on a sport that is not as relevant as football, hockey or basketball. This is when fighter names get mixed up, faux accomplishments are handed out and long-retired fighters are brought back to relevance.

UFC Champion Paige VanZant?

It was announced this week that popular UFC strawweight Paige VanZant would be starring on the hit TV show “Dancing with the Stars”. Naming VanZant a star might be a little bit of a stretch but CNN made a really big stretch when inaccurately describing her as a “UFC champ and model”.

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Nick Diaz or Nate Diaz?

I understand getting the Nogueira brothers confused, but getting the Diaz brothers mixed up is something that MMA fans don’t take lightly. It’s even less understandable when it comes from a major sports outlet that has a very competent and well respected MMA journalist on the team in Brett Okamoto.

ESPN was not the only outlet that mixed up the two brothers. Across the pond in Britain, the Independent was a little too focused on the Irish Conor McGregor to notice the mistake.

Current UFC Star Randy Couture

At UFC 129, former UFC Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture announced his retirement after a sensational knockout loss to Lyoto Machida. Couture has managed to stay retired for the past five years, even while remaining close with the elders circuit of Bellator MMA.

The fact that Couture hasn’t fought in five years and is now close with the UFC biggest competitor is why this error is particularly funny. In this article by the Ottawa Citizen called “What is UFC?”, the author explains to the audience who the biggest stars in the UFC are.

Did you see an error done by mainstream media while covering MMA? Shoot me a message @TheMikeyHutch on Twitter.

It’s hard not to get goose bumps listening to the corner of Nate Diaz, which comprised Jake Shields, Richard Perez (who is no joke) and Kron Gracie, during his fight against Conor McGregor at UFC 196 this past weekend (Sat., March 5, 2016) at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Diaz, as we all know by now, accepted the Welterweight showdown on just 11 days notice, while McGregor was already in the midst of a full training camp in preparation for a showdown with Lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos that never materialized. Company president Dana White insisted that Diaz was in great shape, but the Stockton scrapper later revealed (or trolled) that he was doing shots of Tequila in Mexico when the call came to step up.

In the end, Diaz was able to weather an early blitz from the Irishman and turn the tide midway through the second round en route to a rear-naked choke submission finish (watch video highlights here). And you can actually hear exactly when his corner began to sense the beginning of the end, starting at about the 3.5-minute mark in the video above, which is apparently when Diaz rocked Mcgregor with a combination — and then a patented Stockton slap — in the center of the Octagon. It’s no surprise that Shields, who McGregor blasted as a “juice head” right to his face at the pre-fight press conference, is all fired up throughout most of this raw audio clip.

Exciting stuff!

For complete results from UFC 196: “McGregor vs. Diaz,” including play-by-play updates, click here and here.

Take a look at the current UFC 198: Werdum vs. Miocic fight card, set for Saturday, May 14th at a soccer stadium in Curitiba, Brazil.

The UFC’s first event in Brazil for 2016 is due to be a big one. Heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum will finally get his coveted soccer stadium main event, as he headlines against Stipe Miocic at the Arena da Baixada in Curitiba. In the co-main event, Vitor Belfort fights Jacare Souza in a highly important middleweight contest that really should be 5 rounds, but it’s not because it’s not a main event. At welterweight, contenders Demian Maia and Matt Brown square off in what also projects to be an entertaining clash of styles.

In case you’re wondering, May 14th is the same night that Bellator is running it’s King Mo vs. Phil Davis and Michael Chandler vs. Josh Thomson tentpole doubleheader, so put your viewing priorities in order however you see fit.

Here’s a look at the current fight card, which does not yet have an official bout order:

Fabricio Werdum vs. Stipe Miocic
Vitor Belfort vs. Ronaldo Souza
Matt Brown vs. Demian Maia
Nate Marquardt vs. Thiago Santos
Patrick Cummins vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Warlley Alves vs. Bryan Barberena
Evan Dunham vs. Leonardo Santos
Yancy Medeiros vs. Francisco Trinaldo
Sergio Moraes vs. Kamaru Usman