The wait is nearly over for this weekend’s (Sat., August 20, 2016) UFC 202 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, where Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor will finally square off in the rematch of their blockbuster first match at March 5’s UFC 196. That bout, which Diaz emphatically won by second-round submission to send
The wait is nearly over for this weekend’s (Sat., August 20, 2016) UFC 202 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, where Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor will finally square off in the rematch of their blockbuster first match at March 5’s UFC 196.
That bout, which Diaz emphatically won by second-round submission to send the MMA world into pure upheaval, set the stage for a second fight at 170 pounds that was originally scheduled for July 9’s UFC 200.
There was word that the rematch was perhaps not receiving the hype and attention that a fight of such magnitude should, but that was all put to rest yesterday when Diaz and McGregor threw down in a wild presser that saw multiple water bottles and energy drinks thrown inside the David Copperfield Theater.
Most are picking the larger Diaz to beat McGregor for a second time due to the fact that he’s now coming in with a full camp when he beat “The Notorious” on short notice after Rafael dos Anjos was forced out earlier this year.
With the buzz back on and the entire combat sports world talking, who is your pick to win the blockbuster rematch?
After Conor McGregor showed up late, it didn’t take long at all for all hell to break lose at today’s UFC 202 press conference from Las Vegas. Right when McGregor was asked about fighting Nate Diaz, whom he’s scheduled to rematch in the main event of this Saturday night’s UFC 202, for a third time,
Right when McGregor was asked about fighting Nate Diaz, whom he’s scheduled to rematch in the main event of this Saturday night’s UFC 202, for a third time, the Stockton bad boy promptly left his seat and stormed out with his entire team throwing up their collective middle fingers.
The scene only got worse from there, with Diaz’ team, including his brother Nick and former UFC title challenger Jake Shields, throwing water bottles at “The Notorious” from afar. McGregor tossed back his own water bottles and cans of energy drink, causing a spectacle the likes of which we’ve never seen at a MMA presser before.
While it was certainly a wild affair that will inspire media attention and presumably, interest in a card that may or may not have been lacking for hype in the midst of a never-ending summer of events, many were quick to call the entire thing staged to drum up just that – hype that had supposedly been missing after Diaz soundly trounced McGregor earlier this year and the rematch was removed from UFC 200.
It’s hard to imagine that the UFC would set up a scenario where McGregor and Diaz could potentially harm fans and media members by throwing foreign objects, yet there is no small number of MMA fans who still believe it was fake. What do you think?
It’s Sunday morning, and the MMA world is collectively left to sit and chew on yet another shocking upset in a UFC title fight. Today, it comes in the form of Tyron Woodley’s first-round knockout of Robbie Lawler in the main event of last night’s (Sat., July 30, 2016) UFC 201 from Philips Arena in […]
It’s Sunday morning, and the MMA world is collectively left to sit and chew on yet another shocking upset in a UFC title fight.
Today, it comes in the form of Tyron Woodley’s first-round knockout of Robbie Lawler in the main event of last night’s (Sat., July 30, 2016) UFC 201 from Philips Arena in Atlanta, and while we probably shouldn’t be all that surprised due to “T-Wood’s” power and Lawler’s propensity for getting hit, it’s simply the latest in a long line of touted champions who just can’t hold onto their belts for all that long in today’s evolving MMA landscape.
All in all, seven champions have been dethroned already in 2016 after Dominick Cruz, Miesha Tate, Stipe Miocic, Michael Bisping, Eddie Alvarez, Amanda Nunes, and now Woodley unseated relatively new champions in their own right. Gone are the days of dominant champions like Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre. Jon Jones is still here, technically, but his own actions have put a serious halt to his otherwise dominant career that is now on hold for an undetermined amount of time.
To put it in a stark kind of perspective, since Woodley last fought and beat Kelvin Gastelum by split decision at UFC 182, the only champ from that time to still have the belt is Demetrious Johnson after Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Rafael dos Anjos, Daniel Cormier, Fabricio Werdum, Holly Holm, Luke Rockhold, and Conor McGregor all won their respective titles in 2015. That’s 14 new champs in a year-and-a-half, folks, and that’s the kind of shakeup that can only be seen in mixed martial arts.
Just what that means for a sport where the UFC was recently purchased for a record-setting $4 billion remains to be seen. On the surface, business has never been better, but it’s hard to say if that’s sustainable for any long-term timeframe.
Also on the surface, it would appear that, with Ronda Rousey absent from the sport and obviously not a champion, the UFC has one true and proven top pay-per-view (PPV) draw in McGregor, and he hasn’t even defended the belt he won from Jose Aldo last year.
There is going to be the argument that the frequent changing of titles prevents marketable stars from being built, and of course there will be the side that supports and applauds the inherent unpredictability of fighting and the excitement that comes along with it. Which side are you on?
Faced with the toughest test of his UFC career when he met No. 6-ranked Michael McDonald in the main event of last night’s (Wed., July 13, 2016) UFC Fight Night 91 from the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, surging bantamweight John Lineker delivered one of the most scintillating MMA knockouts of the
Faced with the toughest test of his UFC career when he met No. 6-ranked Michael McDonald in the main event of last night’s (Wed., July 13, 2016) UFC Fight Night 91 from the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, surging bantamweight John Lineker delivered one of the most scintillating MMA knockouts of the year.
The previously No. 8-ranked ‘Hands Of Stone’ has been on an absolute tear, winning his last five bouts in the octagon, which includes a three-fight win streak with two finishes back at 135 pounds when he was forced to abandon his quest for the flyweight title after repeatedly missing weight.
But it could be argued that Lineker possesses even more power at bantamweight, and that’s a scary thing for the rest of the suddenly stacked division. After the win and in a post-fight interview with UFC on FOX, Lineker called out champion Dominick Cruz for the next title shot at 135 pounds:
While he’s certain to rise up the ranks after such an emphatic knockout over McDonald, the path to a title shot may not be so cut and dry for Lineker.
Former champion TJ Dillashaw just beat previous No. 4 Raphael Assuncao at last weekend’s UFC 200 and wants a rematch with Cruz after their ultra-close match at UFC Fight Night 81, Bryan Caraway is angling for a shot himself, and similiary surging contender Cody Garbrandt will take on Takeya Mizugaki at September’s UFC 203 and could be inching closer to a shot at the belt himself.
Taking that into consideration, do you believe Lineker already deserves a title shot, or does he need one (or more) high-profile wins before he summits that mountaintop? Cast your vote right here:
Now that the dust has settled on last night’s (Sat., July 9, 2016) supposedly historic UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) from the brand new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the MMA world is left to collectively pickup the pieces of an event that promised to be the best of all-time on paper but may have fallen painfully
Now that the dust has settled on last night’s (Sat., July 9, 2016) supposedly historic UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) from the brand new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the MMA world is left to collectively pickup the pieces of an event that promised to be the best of all-time on paper but may have fallen painfully short of those perhaps unattainable expectations.
A big part of that was obviously the last-minute shuffling of the main event after interim light heavyweight champ Jon Jones was unceremoniously forced out of his heated rematch with Daniel Cormier. Middleweight legend Anderson Silva courageously stepped in to replace Jones, but on 48 hours’ notice after gall bladder surgery only two months ago, he was predictably smothered by the bigger, stronger wrestler in ‘DC,’ who didn’t earn himself any new fans by laying on Silva for the vast majority of their 15-minute bout.
Neither can be blamed for the entire card’s performance based on the circumstances, but the result was simply a microcosm of an event that was built up to unachievable levels. Yes, Brock Lesnar returned to the Octagon with a successful wrestling-based decision win over Mark Hunt in the co-main. Former heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez also returned from yet another year off to destroy Travis Browne on the main card’s opening bout, an impressive win that got lost in the mix of hype and expectation. He looked amazing. When healthy and on point, Velasquez has a pinpoint striking game that mixes speed, precision, and power like few in MMA history can claim.
But by the time Amanda Nunes absolutely dominated Miesha Tate in a strangely booked main event, a lot of the Vegas crowd had filled out onto the Strip after a night of exhausting their vocal chords booing an event they no doubt paid vast amounts of money to witness live. Maybe the hype just couldn’t be lived up to in this instance, but then again, the UFC created it as well.
What was your opinion on the supposed ‘biggest UFC ever?’ Did it even come close to living up to the massive expectation?
Although it may not have been the era-defining knockout that many were expecting from him, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson put on arguably his greatest MMA performance when he thoroughly outclassed longtime contender Rory MacDonald in the main event of last night’s (Sat., June 18, 2016) UFC Fight Night 89 from the TD Place Arena in Ottawa, Ontario,
Although it may not have been the era-defining knockout that many were expecting from him, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson put on arguably his greatest MMA performance when he thoroughly outclassed longtime contender Rory MacDonald in the main event of last night’s (Sat., June 18, 2016) UFC Fight Night 89 from the TD Place Arena in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Thompson used his peerless striking speed, movement, and angles to pick MacDonald apart with a varied offense of side kicks, hook kicks, and at times, even his vaunted spinning kicks, mixing in a puzzling and punishing boxing game that saw him hit “The Red King” then dart out of harm’s way with surprising ease.
It was cautious at times, yet it was also a dominant victory over the No. 1-ranked welterweight who had nearly ripped the belt from champion Robbie Lawler in his last bout at UFC 189. While questions understandably still remain about MacDonald from that bout, it is also clear that “Wonderboy” has separated himself from the pack at 170 pounds.
“Ruthless” will face Tyron Woodley for the championship in the main event of July 30’s UFC 201 from Atlanta, Georgia, and “Wonderboy” pulled no punches in calling for a fight with the winner at UFC 205 in New York this November. Thompson even said he’d prefer facing the fellow knockout striker Lawler. He should get that fight. If and when he does, are you predicting Thompson will be the next UFC welterweight titleholder?
