Heading into this weekend’s (Sat., March 5, 2016) awaited welterweight clash between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz in the main event of UFC 196, one of the biggest questions surrounding the blockbuster bout was whether or not Diaz would be in good enough shape after taking the fight on short notice. UFC president Dana White
Heading into this weekend’s (Sat., March 5, 2016) awaited welterweight clash between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz in the main event of UFC 196, one of the biggest questions surrounding the blockbuster bout was whether or not Diaz would be in good enough shape after taking the fight on short notice.
UFC president Dana White assured fans that Diaz had been training for a triathlon and was in phenomenal shape, but there were many online who questioned the authenticity of that statement.
Today, however, some evidence has arrived that would at least suggest Diaz may be the elite shape needed to implement his patented high-volume ‘Stockton Slap’ boxing style, as Twitter user Alejandra Sevani posted a photo of Diaz looking in great shape for the fight in response to Octagon commentator Brian Stann’s speculation. Check it out right here and decide for yourself:
So it appears that the questions about Diaz’ conditioning have been answered, at least for now. Does that make you give him any more of a chance against the bulldozing McGregor?
Miesha Tate’s upcoming fight on Saturday against Holly Holm at UFC 196 almost never happened. Tate explained in a recent interview that she almost retired after being denied Women’s Bantamweight title shots against Ronda Rousey on multiple occasions.
“I felt like I was at the top of the top after winning four straight fights in a row and getting another title shot and really feeling like I was ready for that,” Tate told FOX Sports. “I was excited for that opportunity. Right away, I was back in the gym and I was unscathed in the fight with Jessica (Eye). Then I found out I wasn’t getting the title shot and I was a little upset about that and the way that it was announced. I was super upset. I just felt like I was never going to get another title shot so long as Ronda was the champion.”
Tate says her difficulties securing a title shot almost lead her to putting an end to her career.
“That was really hard for me to swallow,” Tate said. “That had me contemplating retirement even at one point, but not because I wasn’t able to compete at that high of a level but because I felt that maybe that door had shut for me in the eyes of the UFC.”
“I didn’t know where I stood with that and how I could process those emotions and what my motivation would be if it’s not to become the best in the world. My motivation is to fight for what? I’m not fighting for a participation ribbon. I’m fighting to be the champion.”
Tate is on a four-fight winning streak, and has an overall record of 17-5. She will be facing UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm (10-0) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on March 5th.
Miesha Tate’s upcoming fight on Saturday against Holly Holm at UFC 196 almost never happened. Tate explained in a recent interview that she almost retired after being denied Women’s Bantamweight title shots against Ronda Rousey on multiple occasions.
“I felt like I was at the top of the top after winning four straight fights in a row and getting another title shot and really feeling like I was ready for that,” Tate told FOX Sports. “I was excited for that opportunity. Right away, I was back in the gym and I was unscathed in the fight with Jessica (Eye). Then I found out I wasn’t getting the title shot and I was a little upset about that and the way that it was announced. I was super upset. I just felt like I was never going to get another title shot so long as Ronda was the champion.”
Tate says her difficulties securing a title shot almost lead her to putting an end to her career.
“That was really hard for me to swallow,” Tate said. “That had me contemplating retirement even at one point, but not because I wasn’t able to compete at that high of a level but because I felt that maybe that door had shut for me in the eyes of the UFC.”
“I didn’t know where I stood with that and how I could process those emotions and what my motivation would be if it’s not to become the best in the world. My motivation is to fight for what? I’m not fighting for a participation ribbon. I’m fighting to be the champion.”
Tate is on a four-fight winning streak, and has an overall record of 17-5. She will be facing UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm (10-0) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on March 5th.
Tumenov achieved a significant streak of five consecutive wins in the Octagon, which began after he was defeated by Ildemar Alcantra in his UFC debut back in 2014. After defeating Lorenz Larkin with a close split decision in January, Tumenov was promoted to the Top 15 position in UFC welterweight ranking. Nelson’s latest fight ended up with a defeat to Demian Maia via the unanimous decision.
Tumenov achieved a significant streak of five consecutive wins in the Octagon, which began after he was defeated by Ildemar Alcantra in his UFC debut back in 2014. After defeating Lorenz Larkin with a close split decision in January, Tumenov was promoted to the Top 15 position in UFC welterweight ranking. Nelson’s latest fight ended up with a defeat to Demian Maia via the unanimous decision.
Holly Holm is booked to defend her Women’s Bantamweight Title against Miesha Tate at UFC 196, but it’s not the main event. Previously, Dana White had made a definitive statement regarding title fights on his pay-per-view cards:
“Whether men, women, the lightest weight division there is,” White said in 2013. “If you’re the champion, you’re the headliner. You’re the top of the card.”
Holm, who is coming off an impressive victory over Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 in November, told MMA Junkie that she isn’t upset to be taking a backseat to the main event of Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz in a non-title fight.
“I don’t care if it’s the first fight, the last fight, [or] the second to last fight,” Holm explained, “I have zero concern about that. A lot of people are like, ‘You should be the main event.’ I’m like, ‘co-main is fine.’ I have my fight. That’s all I care about. And I’m so glad because that’s really not a concern or care of mine.”
UFC 196 takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, March 5, 2016. We’ll have live round-by-round results of the event right here on MMANews.com.
Holly Holm is booked to defend her Women’s Bantamweight Title against Miesha Tate at UFC 196, but it’s not the main event. Previously, Dana White had made a definitive statement regarding title fights on his pay-per-view cards:
“Whether men, women, the lightest weight division there is,” White said in 2013. “If you’re the champion, you’re the headliner. You’re the top of the card.”
Holm, who is coming off an impressive victory over Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 in November, told MMA Junkie that she isn’t upset to be taking a backseat to the main event of Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz in a non-title fight.
“I don’t care if it’s the first fight, the last fight, [or] the second to last fight,” Holm explained, “I have zero concern about that. A lot of people are like, ‘You should be the main event.’ I’m like, ‘co-main is fine.’ I have my fight. That’s all I care about. And I’m so glad because that’s really not a concern or care of mine.”
UFC 196 takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, March 5, 2016. We’ll have live round-by-round results of the event right here on MMANews.com.
Mixed martial arts (MMA) fans wondering why Anderson Silva was not aggressive enough during his unanimous decision loss to Michael Bisping recently had that question answered by coach Luiz Dorea, who told MMA Fighting “The Spider” slammed on the brakes in fear of suffering another leg injury.
“He felt a kick he landed in the first round, thought he cracked his leg and a screw moved. That limited his movements, made him stop attacking for a moment. I asked him to attack, but he said ‘professor, I’m feeling it, I have no confidence’. I said ‘use your heart, you’re Anderson Silva, go after him’. That slowed him down a bit.”
Mixed martial arts (MMA) fans wondering why Anderson Silva was not aggressive enough during his unanimous decision loss to Michael Bisping recently had that question answered by coach Luiz Dorea, who told MMA Fighting “The Spider” slammed on the brakes in fear of suffering another leg injury.
“He felt a kick he landed in the first round, thought he cracked his leg and a screw moved. That limited his movements, made him stop attacking for a moment. I asked him to attack, but he said ‘professor, I’m feeling it, I have no confidence’. I said ‘use your heart, you’re Anderson Silva, go after him’. That slowed him down a bit.”
Australia’s 7 News Perth was one of many outlets that talked to Ronda Rousey as part of a EA Sports UFC 2-centric media day in Vancouver, British Columbia recently, with the video going up over the weekend. The interview itself is a pretty basic puff piece centering on how she doesn’t blame Australia (where she was knocked out for Holly Holm) for anything, how the swimsuit design that was painted on her in Sports Illustrated was from an Australian designer, and so on. Which is kind of why the interview became newsworthy: In the above clip that 7 News Perth tweeted, you can see that they had their cameras running before the interview…and caught Rousey’s public relations representative telling them that they can’t ask about fighting, or else she will walk out.
This is the bit of interaction that’s included in the story:
PR Rep: “Guy over there just asked a question, it was DONE.”
Interviewer [after an edit]: “She’s a fighter. It’s like asking me to do a basketballer and not talking about basketball.”
Obviously, this is going to lead to a lot of speculation about whether or not Rousey is done with fighting. For the time being, it appears that her acting career has not been negatively affected by the change in public perception that her brutal UFC Bantamweight Championship loss to Holm caused, and if Holm remains champion after UFC 196 this Saturday, she’s clearly a tough stylistic matchup for Rousey. She may not need fighting anymore. For now, though, we don’t really know.
EA Sports UFC 2, which features both Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor on the cover, comes out on March 15th (two weeks from today, March 1st) and is available for pre-order now.
Australia’s 7 News Perth was one of many outlets that talked to Ronda Rousey as part of a EA Sports UFC 2-centric media day in Vancouver, British Columbia recently, with the video going up over the weekend. The interview itself is a pretty basic puff piece centering on how she doesn’t blame Australia (where she was knocked out for Holly Holm) for anything, how the swimsuit design that was painted on her in Sports Illustrated was from an Australian designer, and so on. Which is kind of why the interview became newsworthy: In the above clip that 7 News Perth tweeted, you can see that they had their cameras running before the interview…and caught Rousey’s public relations representative telling them that they can’t ask about fighting, or else she will walk out.
This is the bit of interaction that’s included in the story:
PR Rep: “Guy over there just asked a question, it was DONE.”
Interviewer [after an edit]: “She’s a fighter. It’s like asking me to do a basketballer and not talking about basketball.”
Obviously, this is going to lead to a lot of speculation about whether or not Rousey is done with fighting. For the time being, it appears that her acting career has not been negatively affected by the change in public perception that her brutal UFC Bantamweight Championship loss to Holm caused, and if Holm remains champion after UFC 196 this Saturday, she’s clearly a tough stylistic matchup for Rousey. She may not need fighting anymore. For now, though, we don’t really know.
EA Sports UFC 2, which features both Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor on the cover, comes out on March 15th (two weeks from today, March 1st) and is available for pre-order now.
