UFC fighter rankings: Conor McGregor tumbles on P4P list

Conor McGregor’s loss to Nate Diaz at UFC 196 sent him way down in the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings. Conor McGregor’s P4P fall was swift. The UFC featherweight champion went up two weight classes to fight Nate Diaz in the main eve…

Conor McGregor’s loss to Nate Diaz at UFC 196 sent him way down in the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings.

Conor McGregor’s P4P fall was swift. The UFC featherweight champion went up two weight classes to fight Nate Diaz in the main event of UFC 196, but was handed a second-round submission loss by the Stockton native. This definitely hurt Conor’s stock with the rankings panel, as he fell a full five spots on that list.

It was not all bad news for UFC 196 fighters though, as the co-main event winner makes her debut in the P4P rankings, and another cracked the division rankings as well.

Here’s a full rundown of the changes following UFC 196.

P4P – As mentioned, McGregor dropped five spots from three to eight. This allowed middleweight champ Luke Rockhold to move up two spots from five to three. Dominick Cruz stayed at four, while Fabricio Werdum, Rafael dos Anjos (Conor’s original opponent), and Robbie Lawler all moved up one spot to five, six, and seven respectively.

On the bottom half of the list, Frankie Edgar moved up two spots to 11, while T.J. Dillashaw dropped one to 12. Joanna Jedrzejczyk is up one spot to 14. Finally, Miesha Tate makes her P4P debut at 15, bumping the lady she beat, Holly Holm, off of the list.

HeavyweightOleksiy Oliynyk dropped from a tie for 14 with Ruslan Magomedov and now holds the 15 spot on his own.

Light Heavyweight – The real star of UFC 196, Ilir Latifi, enters the rankings at 13 after his big win over Gian Villante. This dropped Villante two spots to 15. Nikita Krylov is up one to 14. Go Sledgehammer!

Middleweight – No changes.

WelterweightAlbert Tumenov and Thiago Alves continue to juggle the 14 and 15 spot, with Tumenov out in front this week.

LightweightAl Iaquinta (hi Al!) dropped from a tie for 10 with Dustin Poirier down to 11.

Featherweight – No changes.

Bantamweight – No changes.

FlyweightHenry Cejudo moved past John Dodson for the number two contender spot, likely due to his title shot against Demetrious Johnson being confirmed for UFC 197.

Women’s Bantamweight – Obviously there’s a new champ. Tate takes over the titleholder role, dropping Holly Holm to the number one contender spot and Ronda Rousey to number two. Sarah Kaufman moved back ahead of Valentina Shevchenko for the 10 spot after the latter’s loss to Amanda Nunes this past weekend.

Women’s Strawweight – No changes.

Nate Diaz To Justin Bieber: “Shut Your B*tch-Ass Up!”

It looks like UFC contender Nate Diaz isn’t taking too kindly to pop star Justin Bieber’s social media efforts to lift Conor McGregor’s spirits following his first UFC loss at UFC 196 this past Saturday evening.

Following the event, which saw Diaz d…

nate-diaz-bieber

It looks like UFC contender Nate Diaz isn’t taking too kindly to pop star Justin Bieber’s social media efforts to lift Conor McGregor’s spirits following his first UFC loss at UFC 196 this past Saturday evening.

Following the event, which saw Diaz defeat McGregor via second round choke, Bieber started posting messages on social media directed at McGregor. Initially, Bieber posted a photo of McGregor with a caption that simply read, “Still the champ.”

From there, he posted a video where he toasted McGregor saying, “To McGregor. He’s still the champ. That broke my heart,” before adding, “No bandwagon but Conor is a true champion, fights with style and finesse, all the respect to Nate but his style is terrible. Nate has crazy heart respect.”

Diaz had seen enough.

The Stockton native took to social media to post his own photo, one that shows a cartoon Nate Diaz slapping a cartoon Justin Bieber, with some captions of its’ own.

The caption above Bieber’s face in the graphic read, “Nate your style is terr___,” with the one above Diaz reading, “Shut your bitch ass up!!!!”

Biebers a hater ????????

A photo posted by natediaz209 (@natediaz209) on

UFC’s Paige VanZant joins ‘Dancing With the Stars’ cast starting March 21st

UFC women’s strawweight contender Paige VanZant will be on the next season of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” reality TV competition. The 22nd season of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” will feature a UFC fighter for the 3rd time in the show’s …

UFC women’s strawweight contender Paige VanZant will be on the next season of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” reality TV competition.

The 22nd season of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” will feature a UFC fighter for the 3rd time in the show’s history. Women’s strawweight contender Paige VanZant joins the likes of Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller, standout NFL WR Antonio Brown, actress Mischa Barton, and Full House (and Fuller House) star Jodie Sweetin on the long-running reality dancing competition. The new season will premiere on Monday, March 21st and end some time in May.

VanZant (6-2) is coming off a lopsided 5th round submission loss to Rose Namajunas in the main event of UFC Fight Night 80 in Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s the 21-year-old’s only loss in her 4 UFC fights, and she currently sits at #7 in the official 115 lbs rankings.

FOX Sports’ Damon Martin notes that PVZ’s management team, and not the UFC, led the charge in her joining the show. MMA Inc. also works with Chael Sonnen, who will take part in the next season of Celebrity Apprentice on NBC.

The two other UFC athletes to be on DWTS are Randy Couture, who was the 3rd person eliminated in season 19, and Chuck Liddell, who finished 11th out of 16th in season 9 back in 2009. PVZ will be partnered with Mark Ballas, who won seasons 6 and 8 with Olympic gold medalists Kristi Yamaguchi (figure skater) and Shawn Johnson (gymnastics), respectively.

VanZant has expressed her love for competitive dancing in the past, so perhaps she’ll fare much better than Couture or Liddell ever did. Here’s a recent clip of her showing off her moves on Fox Sports Live.

UFC 196 medical suspensions: Diaz out until 4/20, McGregor not out at all

It looks like Conor McGregor escaped unscathed from his loss to Nate Diaz, but Diaz will be on the shelf until an oddly fitting day. UFC 196 featured a lot of violent action, so it should come as no surprise that there were a lot of long med…

It looks like Conor McGregor escaped unscathed from his loss to Nate Diaz, but Diaz will be on the shelf until an oddly fitting day.

UFC 196 featured a lot of violent action, so it should come as no surprise that there were a lot of long medical suspensions issued by the Nevada Athletic Commission. Five fighters were handed 180-day terms for suspected injuries, all of which can be cleared early by a doctor.

One man who escaped even a temporary suspension was headliner Conor McGregor, who was submitted by Nate Diaz in the second round of their spectacle. Due to a cut opened over Diaz’s eye, he was handed a 45 day suspension. That means he can return on 4/20, which is just a coincidence and not actually a joke of any kind. Though it is pretty funny.

Here’s the full list of suspensions, via the commission:

Nate Diaz: Suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days for right eye laceration

Ilir Latifi: Needs X-ray on left toe, if broken then suspended 180 days, or until cleared by doctor

Valentina Shevchenko: Suspended until 30 days with no contact for 21 days for left eye laceration

Siyar Bahadurzada: Must have jaw cleared by doctor or suspended 180 days; minimum suspension for 21 days with no contact for 14 days

Brandon Thatch: Needs X-ray on left foot, if broken then suspended 180 days, or until cleared by doctor; minimum suspension 45 days with no contact for 30 days

Nordine Taleb: Needs X-ray or MRI of left knee and must be cleared by doctor, or suspended 180 days

Erick Silva: Suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days

Marcelo Guimaraes: Needs X-ray or MRI of left knee and must be cleared by doctor, or suspended 180 days; minimum suspension 45 days with no contact for 30 days

Chas Skelly: Suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days

Justin Salas: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days for right eye laceration

Julian Erosa: Suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days

What triathlon? Nate Diaz was shooting tequila on yacht in Cabo when summoned for UFC 196 (Video)

I wasn’t trainjng for a triathalon before this fight I was on a yacht in cabo gettin my chillax on wit my dude @gilbertmelendez before I got the call but #alwaysreadyforwar in season or not #100 #patron #ninjashit
Posted by N…

I wasn’t trainjng for a triathalon before this fight I was on a yacht in cabo gettin my chillax on wit my dude @gilbertmelendez before I got the call but #alwaysreadyforwar in season or not #100 #patron #ninjashit

Posted by Nate Diaz on Monday, March 7, 2016

Yeah, about that triathlon…

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White had to sell mixed martial arts (MMA) fans a pay-per-view (PPV) main event featuring a fighter who was competing on just 11 days notice. But not to worry, said fighter was ready to go.

“Nate Diaz has been training for a triathlon,” White told LA Today roughly one week before the UFC 196 headliner in Las Vegas, Nevada. “Nate Diaz is in phenomenal shape right now, so he’s not coming in out of shape.”

Not that it mattered, since Diaz subbed McGregor in round two (watch it), regardless of preparation. That said, if triathlons include sailing the Cabo seas with a bottle of tequila, then fuck this blogging shit, I’m out of here.

Miesha Tate Comments on Ronda Rousey’s State of Mind, Strategy, More

New UFC bantamweight champion Miesha Tate has revealed she’s unsure if Ronda Rousey will ever scale the heights she did prior to her loss to Holly Holm.  
Speaking on Jay Mohr Sports (h/t Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting) on Monday after her win on S…

New UFC bantamweight champion Miesha Tate has revealed she’s unsure if Ronda Rousey will ever scale the heights she did prior to her loss to Holly Holm.  

Speaking on Jay Mohr Sports (h/t Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting) on Monday after her win on Saturday against Holm at UFC 196, Tate, who has lost to Rousey on two occasions, didn’t seem particularly daunted by the prospect of going up against Rowdy for a third time, labelling her a “broken woman”:

I don’t know if she’ll ever come back the same. But I have proven that I can come back from adversity and I do come back and I will come back. And there’s no one in this sport that can break me. I have the strongest mindset of anybody in there. I don’t know where Ronda is with her mindset, but I have to wonder. Is she ever going to come back the same?

Rousey had masses of momentum at her back when she took on Holm at UFC 193 in November, before she was knocked out in shock circumstances.

Since the defeat, the former champion has kept a low profile, although she did open up on Ellen recently, saying she contemplated suicide in the wake of the defeat, per Raimondi. After Tate’s triumph, some expected Rousey to return to fight her for the title, something UFC President Dana White confirmed on SportsCenter (h/t Mike Bohn of MMAjunkie).

Tate feels watching Rousey lose to Holm offered her an insight into how to get the better of her nemesis.

“I just saw how Ronda got demolished with clean striking [against Holm],” the new champion said. “I think that I’ve improved so much and I’ve showed that in this fight with Holly.”

Additionally, as noted by Zam’s Danielle Riendeau, Tate also showcased a renewed intensity against the former boxer, something that was key in her forcing a late stoppage:

When Rousey and Tate have met in the past, the outcomes have been pretty similar, with the former locking in an armbar on both occasions and forcing Tate to submit. Here’s a reminder of how the previous bout between the two panned out, when Rowdy won in the third round:

Despite the fact there has been a significant chasm between the two in previous fights, Tate revealed she feels as though she’s vastly improved from UFC 168, when they last faced off.

“Look at how much my striking improved,” Tate said. “From that fight that I fought Ronda, I still had really wild, kind of flinging hooks. I let Ronda come right into that clinch. [I was punching] so wide and open and nothing down in the middle.”

Indeed, the champion Tate will surely carry a lot more confidence into any potential showdown with Rousey in the future. Additionally, she’ll be boosted in the knowledge that she was able to choke out the fighter who left the former title holder beaten so badly at UFC 193; they’re intangible advantages she’s not been privy to previously.

Shaheen Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting is looking forward to seeing how each of these fighters potentially fare in a role reversal:

For neutrals, hopefully the time Rousey has spent away from the Octagon will see her return refreshed and ready to take on new challenges; watching her go at an opponent in full flight has come to be one of the most engrossing sights in MMA in recent years.

Tate may point to the improvements made, but you suspect there’ll also be a nagging reflex at the back of her mind—one that reminds her of the two losses suffered against Rowdy previously.

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