Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. Despite the fact that featherweight champion Conor McGregor was thoroughly picked apart by Nate Diaz in a welterweight bout at March 5’s UFC 196 from Las Vegas, a report has surfaced from MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani that the promotion is actually planning on booking a rematch of
Despite the fact that featherweight champion Conor McGregor was thoroughly picked apart by Nate Diaz in a welterweight bout at March 5’s UFC 196 from Las Vegas, a report has surfaced from MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani that the promotion is actually planning on booking a rematch of the blockbuster bout in the main event of July 9’s massive UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) event.
Stepping in only 10 days’ notice for lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, Diaz famously out-struck and rocked McGregor on the feet at UFC 196 before absolutely dominating him on the ground to score an emphatic second-round submission via rear-naked choke. There were signs that McGregor may fare better in a rematch, however, as he won the first round with several big strikes to bloody Diaz before gassing in the next frame.
The rematch will reportedly take place at welterweight, leaving concerns for McGregor’s ability to carry the extra weight that may have played a big part in the fact that he tired at UFC 196.
Yet the biggest problem with booking Diaz vs. McGregor II may be the fact that the featherweight title could be out on hold yet again with famished challengers Frankie Edgar and Jose Aldo chomping at the bit. McGregor got noticeably bigger in the weeks leading up to UFC 196, and cutting back down to 145, where he often appeared excessively depleted to make the weight, may no longer be in the cards for ‘Notorious.’
Although he did tease another match-up with Diaz in the future, he previously turned down the immediate rematch when asked about in the streets, but apparently the UFC has persuaded him to reconsider. Multiple sources confirmed the possibility and the fight is expected to be announced in the coming days.
There’s no doubt that Diaz vs. McGregor was a massive success for the UFC, reportedly drawing 1.5 million PPV buys. But UFC 200 is supposed to be a special card that rates as one of the best of all-time, and the fans do already know the outcome of the match-up.
And that was when Diaz had merely 10 days to prepare for the Irishman. Do you give ‘Notorious’ a better shot in the rematch, and do you think this is the best choice for UFC 200’s main event?
While Holly Holm may have been ahead on the cards going into the end of her fight with Miesha Tate at UFC 196, but according to Tate, after round two, the stage was set for her to pull off the upset later in the fight.
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https://youtu.be/LVevBkldeO4
While Holly Holm may have been ahead on the cards going into the end of her fight with Miesha Tate at UFC 196, but according to Tate, after round two, the stage was set for her to pull off the upset later in the fight.
Tate spoke about the fight during her appearance on The Fight Network this week.
“I think she just crumbled under the pressure when I took her down in that second round,” Tate told Fight Network’s John Pollock. “My coaches and Bryan [Caraway] actually told me, ‘She’s either going to stay down and be so scared about being submitted that you’re going to ground and pound her and beat her up or she’s going to try desperately to get up. Because your top pressure is so heavy she’s going to be forced to leave something out there and you’re going to grab it and you’re going to submit this girl.’
“We saw both cases. In the second round she stayed down there and took some heavy ground and pound. In the fifth round she definitely didn’t want to get stuck down there again so she tried to zealously get up and I saw the opening and I took it. We planned for that and we assumed that was going to happen.”
While the UFC brass has been critical of Holm’s decision to take a fight with Tate instead of waiting for the guaranteed immediate rematch money-fight with Ronda Rousey, Tate said that she admires Holm for making the decision.
“I think Holly took the advice of her coaches who she trusts with everything,” said Tate. “They said, ‘Holly, you’ve always been an active fighter. Let’s not change who you are now that you’re the champion because that’s when you’re going to lose sight of who you are.’ I think the idea was to keep her grounded just the same as if she wasn’t the champion. Fighting often, through the top 10 and I admire that. I respect that. I think that’s what any champion should do. She didn’t want to wait. She wanted to get in there and prove why she was the best in the world.
“It didn’t work out for her this time but that’s the mindset that makes a champion. You’re not going to win every fight in this sport but she has the mentality of a champion and that’s why she beat Ronda. If she would have said, ‘I’m not ready to fight Ronda’ she would have missed that opportunity. She’s just the kind of woman who wants to stay ready, be ready and she’s passionate about this. I have a lot of respect for her and I don’t think it was a mistake. I think she’s going to learn from it and she’ll come back better.”
Nate Diaz’s upset win over Conor McGregor at UFC 196 was a shock. Few gave the Stockton, California, native much of a chance against the Irishman, whose career momentum most closely resembled a particularly large boulder rolling down a steep hill.
Diaz…
Nate Diaz‘s upset win over Conor McGregor at UFC 196 was a shock. Few gave the Stockton, California, native much of a chance against the Irishman, whose career momentum most closely resembled a particularly large boulder rolling down a steep hill.
Diaz’s second-round submission finish of the featherweight champion came on the biggest possible stage. According to UFC President Dana White, UFC 196 was one of, if not the, biggest shows in UFC history. Millions of people tuned in to see Diaz choke the golden boy into submission and to experience his unique brand of charisma in the aftermath.
(Warning: The video below contains NSFW language.)
The bloody, back-and-forth victory over McGregor in front of an enormous audience cemented Diaz’s status as a money-weight fighter.
What exactly is a money-weight? First and foremost, a money-weight fighter is a draw.
Contrary to Dana White’s statement that Diaz “is not a needle-mover,” something he said back in 2014 in the midst of a contentious contract renegotiation, there’s every reason to think that fans tune in to watch the Stockton native. Nearly 2 million people (NSFW language) have watched McGregor and Diaz jaw at the pre-fight press conference. It’s hard to imagine Rafael dos Anjos generating the same kind of interest.
Diaz’s title fight with Benson Henderson on Fox in 2012 averaged 4.4 million viewers, one of the highest numbers in the series. He drew 1.129 million viewers when he fought Gray Maynard at The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale. When given the opportunity to headline cards, Diaz has generally drawn well, and the potentially record-breaking bout with McGregor is just the most recent proof of this.
Diaz’s 390,000 followers on Twitter and 495,000 on Instagram likewise speak to his popularity. Those aren’t Conor McGregor numbers, but they’re substantially more than Dos Anjos or welterweight champion Robbie Lawler.
Fans tune in to watch Nate Diaz. That much is indisputable, and it’s hard to imagine the win over McGregor doing anything other than massively boosting his profile.
Second, wins and losses aren’t as important to the money-weight fighter as the ability to generate interest. Credibility is essential—the prospective money-weight has to be competitive—but winning per se doesn’t matter as much as energizing the fans and selling the fight.
Third, and most important, a money-weight fighter isn’t tied to any given weight class, but to where the biggest money can be found.
Georges St-Pierre was certainly a draw, for example, but he fought exclusively at welterweight. Jose Aldo was a dominant featherweight but never drew an exceptional amount and has never fought outside featherweight in his UFC career. Jon Jones is a solid draw and has obviously dominated his fellow 205-pounders, but he has never ventured outside the division.
Anderson Silva and especially BJ Penn are better examples. Both drew excellent numbers, Penn more so than any other lighter-weight fighter in history, and both routinely fought outside their divisions. Silva beat James Irvin, Stephan Bonnar and former champion Forrest Griffin at 205 pounds but did so more for a lack of contenders at middleweight than in pursuit of the biggest names.
Penn is the prototype of the money-weight fighter. The Hawaiian fought both Matt Hughes and Georges St-Pierre twice at welterweight and even ventured as high as 191 pounds to scrap with Lyoto Machida. He chased the biggest possible fights regardless of weight, and that both made him a great deal of money and endeared him to fans.
Diaz has fought at welterweight four times, where he fell short against top-10 fighters Dong Hyun Kim and Rory MacDonald. His bout with McGregor took place at 170 pounds as well, and as he has aged it’s possible that he could be more competitive there.
The Stockton native fulfills every one of these categories. He’s a draw, his record has been competitive even in his losses and he’s willing to fight whomever at whatever weight.
Since defeating McGregor, various parties have raised the possibility of big-time fights at welterweight. Dana White said on SportsCenter (h/t MMA Junkie) that it would make sense to book Diaz against Lawler for the belt, while Georges St-Pierre’s coach, Firas Zahabi, called for that matchup on Twitter.
“I’m at the top, so it’s their [the UFC’s] call what’s next,” said Diaz at the post-fight press conference (NSFW language). “My fights are always pulling big numbers, you know? They always stick me on Fox…I was bringing in more numbers than anybody, but nobody pays attention to that.”
Diaz knows he’s a draw. He knows his monetary value to the promotion.
“I’m not asking for anything. I’m demanding more than everybody,” Diaz told ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto. “I want more than everybody, straight up. Money talks. I want the biggest fight. Whoever I’ve got to fight — the biggest show, biggest payday — that’s what I want.”
(Warning: The video below contains NSFW language.)
In becoming a money-weight fighter, Diaz has an excellent role model close to home in the form of his older brother. Nick Diaz long had appeal to MMA’s counterculture, but he became a real draw through his two-year run in Strikeforce, when he defeated fighters like Frank Shamrock, Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos and Paul Daley. He capped that streak by pulverizing BJ Penn in his return to the UFC.
Diaz the Elder chased big-time bouts throughout his career. He fought Takanori Gomi at 160 pounds in PRIDE and submitted him with a gogoplata in an all-timer of a donnybrook, his win over Shamrock was at a 179-pound catchweight, the fight against St-Pierre was for the welterweight title and he fought Anderson Silva at middleweight in his last outing.
By defeating McGregor, Nate has entered the same territory his brother has occupied for the last four years. He can chase fights between 155 and 170 pounds based on name value, the excitement of the matchup itself and the potential to draw buys.
While Diaz is hardly disqualified from relevant bouts—a rematch with Rafael dos Anjos for the lightweight title is a real possibility, as the champion told Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour (h/t MMA Fighting)—he isn’t locked into a single division. Anyone would be a fool to turn down a fight with Georges St-Pierre and the life-changing money that would come with it, and a title fight with Robbie Lawler would further enhance Diaz’s profile.
Both of the Diaz brothers have reached the hallowed grounds of the money-weight fighter. So too, despite the loss, has Conor McGregor. Prior to his defeat at Diaz’s hands, and even when he was set to face Dos Anjos, McGregor was open to discussing the possibility of a run at Robbie Lawler and the welterweight belt.
The loss to Diaz doesn’t mean the Irishman is forever shut out of big-money fights. He’ll probably go back to featherweight for at least one bout, but after that, there’s no reason he couldn’t fight Donald Cerrone, Anthony Pettis or Dos Anjos, or rematch with Diaz.
The time is ripe for the UFC to embrace the trend of the money-weight fighters.
It has a strong stable of fighters who can draw both on pay-per-view and television, and it should be finding creative ways to match them to draw fan interest. The Diaz-Silva matchup at UFC 183 last year was a step in the right direction, and the promotion was surely happy with the 650,000 buys it generated (per Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, via MMA Payout.)
Matching Silva against Michael Bisping was another sharp move. It wasn’t the most divisionally relevant fight, but it drew fan interest on both sides.
Now more than ever, we know that fans buy name value, and putting well-known pieces together into intriguing and sometimes unexpected combinations should be a goal for the promotion. Titles are all well and good, but the UFC often focuses on them to the exclusion of fun and profit.
A fun scrap between fighters we can invest in emotionally is every bit as good, and the UFC would be well served to embrace that trend. The money-weights are here, the big fights are on the table and so too are piles of money.
Patrick Wyman is the Senior MMA Analyst for Bleacher Report and the co-host of the Heavy Hands Podcast, your source for the finer points of face-punching. He can be found on Twitter and Facebook.
Four months have passed since former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey was shockingly dethroned by Holly Holm at UFC 193, but the mixed martial arts (MMA) world still waits on pins and needles for the announcement of ‘Rowdy’s’ return. Still the queen of MMA and most recognized athlete in the UFC, the popular fighter/movie
Four months have passed since former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey was shockingly dethroned by Holly Holm at UFC 193, but the mixed martial arts (MMA) world still waits on pins and needles for the announcement of ‘Rowdy’s’ return.
Still the queen of MMA and most recognized athlete in the UFC, the popular fighter/movie star teased this week that she could now bite an apple online, one of her gauges to test her readiness to potentially return to the cage, and indeed, there are some signs that may point to her coming back relatively soon.
However, there are possibly even more signs that suggest she may not, and the serious nature of those could also point to her being a shell of her former self even if she does decide to come back.
Overall, it’s a polarizing debate that undoubtedly has the entire sport of MMA wondering just what will happen next. Let’s take a look at some of the factors why – or why not – Rousey will be her dominant self once again.
Four months have passed since former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey was shockingly dethroned by Holly Holm at UFC 193, but the mixed martial arts (MMA) world still waits on pins and needles for the announcement of ‘Rowdy’s’ return. Still the queen of MMA and most recognized athlete in the UFC, the popular fighter/movie
Four months have passed since former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey was shockingly dethroned by Holly Holm at UFC 193, but the mixed martial arts (MMA) world still waits on pins and needles for the announcement of ‘Rowdy’s’ return.
Still the queen of MMA and most recognized athlete in the UFC, the popular fighter/movie star teased this week that she could now bite an apple online, one of her gauges to test her readiness to potentially return to the cage, and indeed, there are some signs that may point to her coming back relatively soon.
However, there are possibly even more signs that suggest she may not, and the serious nature of those could also point to her being a shell of her former self even if she does decide to come back.
Overall, it’s a polarizing debate that undoubtedly has the entire sport of MMA wondering just what will happen next. Let’s take a look at some of the factors why – or why not – Rousey will be her dominant self once again.
Nate Diaz is still dropping bombs on Conor McGregor… UFC lightweight and welterweight Nate Diaz stuck himself firmly on the map this past March 5, taking out the highly hyped UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor by submission. The UFC 196 had all the thrills and spills of a classic bout, including a fierce rivalry before
Nate Diaz is still dropping bombs on Conor McGregor…
UFC lightweight and welterweight Nate Diaz stuck himself firmly on the map this past March 5, taking out the highly hyped UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor by submission. The UFC 196 had all the thrills and spills of a classic bout, including a fierce rivalry before hand. It was only 11 days in the making, as Diaz replaced the njured lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, but the Stockton bad boy capitalized in a big way.
Many people felt the diverse striking attacks of McGregor would have Diaz shooting in for ground attacks and takedowns, but as it turned out, it was quite the opposite. The taller 209 native blasted ‘The Notorious’ with some hard shots, and for the first time in the Irishman’s UFC career, it looked like he may have been in trouble. Then cam, as predicted by Diaz, the takedown attempt from McGregor. It was as good as over from that point.
Diaz catapulted himself in to the limelight, and is currently relishing his well deserved attention and also a much increased disclosed pay check. Chatting with Mike Bohn for Rolling Stone Magazine, the younger of the infamous Diaz bros says he was close to knocking McGregor out, among some other cool topics:
“I lost plenty of decisions and I’ve never got a rematch to this day,” Diaz says. “So that’s crazy. Conor got worked over and now they’re saying rematch, which makes sense, I understand that. I just think it’s funny because it’s like, Jose Aldo didn’t get a rematch.”
“Those are both great fights, big fights, but those are both my brother’s fights. I’m not going to step on his shoes,” he says. “I’m not going to into his weight because everybody wants to see Nick vs. GSP or Nick vs. Lawler. I would like to fight for the Lightweight title. But if I did the [fighting at] 170 thing I would like them to work out the deal with Nick and I’ll take the leftovers.”
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