When Conor McGregor lost to Nate Diaz at UFC 196 last Saturday, many in the MMA world pointed to the considerable weight gain McGregor underwent as one of the main factors behind his first Octagon loss. This is an opinion that happens to be shared by b…
When Conor McGregor lost to Nate Diaz at UFC 196 last Saturday, many in the MMA world pointed to the considerable weight gain McGregor underwent as one of the main factors behind his first Octagon loss. This is an opinion that happens to be shared by boxing royalty as well.
Former heavyweight king “Iron” Mike Tyson gave his take on McGregor’s loss to Diaz during a recent appearance on “The Jim Rome Show.”
“My personal opinion, I think he went up too fast in weight, and I think he fought the wrong guy in that weight. It’s just something that happens in fighting, and we should all learn from our mistakes. That’s what fighting is all about, learning from our mistakes, improving our mistakes, and improving ourselves. Not giving up.”
SBG Ireland coach John Kavanagh spoke with Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of “The MMA Hour” at MMAFighting.com and broke down the technical aspects behind Conor McGregor’s loss to Nate Diaz at UFC 196 last Saturday evening.
According to Kavanagh, McGregor loaded up on his left hand too often, among other technical ineffeciences that he feels led to his fighter suffering his first loss inside the Octagon inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 5th.
“Yeah, a lot of things were working,” Kavanagh said during his appearance on the weekly MMA Fighting program. “I did think that he maybe was loading up a little on his left hand, especially when you’re facing a same stance fighter. Nate’s kind of good at using that shoulder roll that boxers do to defend themselves. A lot of big lefts that weren’t catching him flush. They were kind of bouncing off his shoulder, or Nate was moving with the shot so weren’t having the impact they’d have on an opposite stance fighter or someone who wasn’t as highly skilled as Nate.
“But still, some good shots landed. He did get taken down by a single leg by Nate, but I thought Conor did very well, he executed a nice sweep and was taking the guard, almost passed and landed some good shots. So, all in all, it was a good round. I imagine the judges gave that round to Conor. I can’t see how it would have went otherwise.”
Kavanagh admits that his fighter explained things as good as one can immediately after the fight.
“If there was something to critique or take away from that fight, I think Conor almost immediately said it much better than I’m able to say, is that he was inefficient with his job and Nate was efficient. And that’s what I was trying to get across, and that’s what we saw happening. He kind of blew himself a little bit trying to take his head off with every single left hand rather than just landing it. Maybe I could have stole his own phrase and told him to keep it flowing.”
Kavanagh continued, “I think there was a good left cross, and it kind of stumbled Conor back. I kind of think it was really exhaustion at this stage. He looked really, really tired.
“At that stage it was clear that he was very, very tired. And if there’s one thing you’re never going to say about a Diaz brother is that he gets tired. He just has that incredible ability to just keep going and keep pushing themselves. They [Nate and Nick] are phenomenal athletes, the two of them. So I thought that tiredness and him being pushed back was when I was worried.”
SBG Ireland coach John Kavanagh spoke with Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of “The MMA Hour” at MMAFighting.com and broke down the technical aspects behind Conor McGregor’s loss to Nate Diaz at UFC 196 last Saturday evening.
According to Kavanagh, McGregor loaded up on his left hand too often, among other technical ineffeciences that he feels led to his fighter suffering his first loss inside the Octagon inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 5th.
“Yeah, a lot of things were working,” Kavanagh said during his appearance on the weekly MMA Fighting program. “I did think that he maybe was loading up a little on his left hand, especially when you’re facing a same stance fighter. Nate’s kind of good at using that shoulder roll that boxers do to defend themselves. A lot of big lefts that weren’t catching him flush. They were kind of bouncing off his shoulder, or Nate was moving with the shot so weren’t having the impact they’d have on an opposite stance fighter or someone who wasn’t as highly skilled as Nate.
“But still, some good shots landed. He did get taken down by a single leg by Nate, but I thought Conor did very well, he executed a nice sweep and was taking the guard, almost passed and landed some good shots. So, all in all, it was a good round. I imagine the judges gave that round to Conor. I can’t see how it would have went otherwise.”
Kavanagh admits that his fighter explained things as good as one can immediately after the fight.
“If there was something to critique or take away from that fight, I think Conor almost immediately said it much better than I’m able to say, is that he was inefficient with his job and Nate was efficient. And that’s what I was trying to get across, and that’s what we saw happening. He kind of blew himself a little bit trying to take his head off with every single left hand rather than just landing it. Maybe I could have stole his own phrase and told him to keep it flowing.”
Kavanagh continued, “I think there was a good left cross, and it kind of stumbled Conor back. I kind of think it was really exhaustion at this stage. He looked really, really tired.
“At that stage it was clear that he was very, very tired. And if there’s one thing you’re never going to say about a Diaz brother is that he gets tired. He just has that incredible ability to just keep going and keep pushing themselves. They [Nate and Nick] are phenomenal athletes, the two of them. So I thought that tiredness and him being pushed back was when I was worried.”
Reigning UFC featherweight champion the “Notorious” Conor McGregor took on a daunting task when he accepted a bout opposite lightweight kingpin Rafael dos Anjos. The scrap was scheduled for last weekend’s (March 5, 2016) UFC 196, and McGregor was attempting to become the first man in promotional history to hold two titles simultaneously. Ultimately, dos
Reigning UFC featherweight champion the “Notorious” Conor McGregor took on a daunting task when he accepted a bout opposite lightweight kingpin Rafael dos Anjos.
The scrap was scheduled for last weekend’s (March 5, 2016) UFC 196, and McGregor was attempting to become the first man in promotional history to hold two titles simultaneously.
Ultimately, dos Anjos pulled out of the fight just over a week out with a broken foot.
The “Notorious” one would end up taking on fan favorite Nate Diaz in a welterweight bout, two whole weight classes above his usual home at 145-pounds.
While his willingness to take on anyone at any time was on full display, the move proved to be detrimental to the Irishman, as he suffered a shocking second round submission loss to Diaz.
After the loss, McGregor will likely drop back down to featherweight to defend his title, but that doesn’t mean a future at 155-pounds or even 170-pounds is completely out of the question.
Let’s take a look at five changes McGregor must make in order to defeat bigger foes:
It was little over a week ago now that Nate Diaz sent the mixed martial arts world in to a frenzy with his win over Conor McGregor. The UFC featherweight champion had his hopes of twin title glory dashed on the rocks when the lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos pulled out of UFC 196, and
It was little over a week ago now that Nate Diaz sent the mixed martial arts world in to a frenzy with his win over Conor McGregor. The UFC featherweight champion had his hopes of twin title glory dashed on the rocks when the lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos pulled out of UFC 196, and Diaz furthered the Irish star’s woes. Much like his dream of holding two consecutive UFC belts from two fights, McGregor’s attempt to extend his win streak to eight in the UFC was also snubbed when Diaz submitted McGregor in the second round of their welterweight burner.
It was indeed an entertaining fight, a scrap that saw both men land some solid shots, and for the first time in his UFC career ‘The Notorious’ was wobbled more than once. When the fight went to the mat, it was all Diaz, as the Gracie BJJ black belt quickly took the back and sunk in a rear naked choke.
Suddenly Nate Diaz was the name on every MMA fan’s lips, and Conor McGregor was left with some serious points to sharpen up on. Less than a week had passed when UFC president Dana White revealed that McGregor would return at UFC 200, but no word of what’s next for the man that just defeated him? The featherweight title needs defending, and apparently ‘The Notorious’ was keen to get back on the horse as soon as possible, but then the following report by Middle Easy owner Zeus Tipado on Twitter.
Conor McGregor turned down the Nate Diaz rematch which would have been scheduled for the July 4th weekend
Interesting. It’s worth noting that the legitimacy of this report was brought in to question by numerous followers of Tipado, but he argues vehemently that he has a legitimate source. Also of importance is that Diaz would likely never make 145 pounds, so it might have meant McGregor stalling his UFC featherweight title defense yet again.
The MMA world has had a full week to digest the ramifications of last week’s (Sat., March 5, 2016) absolutely blockbuster UFC 196 card from Las Vegas, Nevada, and one thing is for certain: despite some massive shake-ups, the game-changing event did huge business for the promotion. It was the latest in the series of
The MMA world has had a full week to digest the ramifications of last week’s (Sat., March 5, 2016) absolutely blockbuster UFC 196 card from Las Vegas, Nevada, and one thing is for certain: despite some massive shake-ups, the game-changing event did huge business for the promotion.
It was the latest in the series of recently huge pay-per-views headlined by featherweight champion Conor McGregor that have been a vital piece of the UFC’s surge in popularity from 2015-2016, and even though he ultimately lost to Nate Diaz in the main event, the build-up and hype of the fight certainly can’t be denied as one of the most exciting in MMA history.
In fact, there are some signs that definitely suggest it was the most hyped UFC fight ever, and definitely a much bigger draw than McGregor’s originally scheduled lightweight title match with Rafael dos Anjos. Obviously McGregor was the star, but the massive following of Diaz no doubt put it over the top into truly historic territory.
The numbers would agree. Let’s take a look at why UFC 196’s main event was the most hyped fight in UFC history.
Long-time UFC veteran Nate Diaz is coming off of the biggest victory of his career, and undoubtedly the biggest payday of his career after submitting featherweight champion Conor McGregor at last weekend’s (March 5, 2016) UFC 196. Instantly raising his stock, the Stockton Bad Boy should be in line for some huge fights in the
Long-time UFC veteran Nate Diaz is coming off of the biggest victory of his career, and undoubtedly the biggest payday of his career after submitting featherweight champion Conor McGregor at last weekend’s (March 5, 2016) UFC 196.
Instantly raising his stock, the Stockton Bad Boy should be in line for some huge fights in the near future. A potential rematch with McGregor will always loom on the horizon, and Diaz’s name has been continuously thrown into title talks over the last week.
Despite a bright a future waiting ahead, the 30-year-old Diaz may not actually stick around the fight game too much longer.
In a recent interview with Extra’s Charissa Thompson, Diaz was asked about rumors regarding retirement in which he responded that he ‘might’.
Check out the full interview below:
While he chuckled at the idea, and didn’t seem to be all too serious, it’s definitely an interesting idea to consider.
With a truckload of cash now in his possession, would you be surprised if the Stockton native decided to hang up his gloves?
