Following Saturday night’s UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz event from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, UFC held the official post-fight press conference.
Embedded above is the official video player for the …
https://youtu.be/tfu31-vEwgo
Following Saturday night’s UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz event from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, UFC held the official post-fight press conference.
Embedded above is the official video player for the post-fight press conference, which will be streamed live as soon as the UFC 196 pay-per-view ends.
Tune in right here to watch the UFC 196 post-fight press conference live as it happens after the show, and/or watch a full video archive of the presser anytime after it airs live via the same video player seen above.
It’s once again fight day here at LowKickMMA, and the talent on display tonight (Saturday, March 4th, 2016) will come in the form of UFC 196. Headlining the card are Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz, but there’s a whole bunch of great fights also taking place on the preliminary section of the card. Brandon Thatch
It’s once again fight day here at LowKickMMA, and the talent on display tonight (Saturday, March 4th, 2016) will come in the form of UFC 196. Headlining the card are Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz, but there’s a whole bunch of great fights also taking place on the preliminary section of the card.
Brandon Thatch (11-3) vs. Siyar Bahadurzada (21-6-1) in a welterweight bout closes the preliminary card on Fox Sports 1.
Erick Silva (18-6, 1NC) vs. Nordine Taleb (10-3) is next in a welterweight bout.
Vitor Miranda (11-4) vs. Marcelo Guimaraes (9-1-1) is next in a middleweight bout.
Darren Elkins (19-5) vs. Chas Skelly (15-1) in a featherweight opens the Fox Sports 1 preliminary bouts.
Diego Sanchez (25-8) vs. Jim Miller (25-7, 1NC) in a lightweight bout finishes off the UFC Fight Pass preliminary card.
Justin Salas (12-6) and Jason Saggo (10-2) met in a lightweight bout at UFC 196. This one did not last long. Salas scored an early round takedown, but Saggo stayed patient and worked off his back to top control. Late in the round, Saggo transitioned to back mount and worked him over with shots to finish the fight.
Opening the UFC Fight Pass prelims for UFC 196 was Julian Erosa (15-2) vs. Teruto Ishihara (7-2-2) in a featherweight bout. The first round was entertaining with both men exchanging as well as taking the fight to the ground. In the second round, Ishihara caught him with a left-hand 30-seconds into the round and finished him on the ground.
Here are the prelims results:
Preliminary Card: (FS1 – 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT)
Welterweight bout: Brandon Thatch (11-3) vs. Siyar Bahadurzada (21-6-1)
Welterweight bout: Erick Silva (18-6, 1NC) vs. Nordine Taleb (10-3)
Middleweight bout: Vitor Miranda (11-4) vs. Marcelo Guimaraes (9-1-1)
Featherweight bout: Darren Elkins (19-5) vs. Chas Skelly (15-1)
As “The Notorious” Conor McGregor makes his walk to the Octagon on Saturday evening to fight Nate Diaz in a welterweight bout inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, it could be the beginning of the end of McGregor’s reign as the UFC’s …
As “The Notorious” Conor McGregor makes his walk to the Octagon on Saturday evening to fight Nate Diaz in a welterweight bout inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, it could be the beginning of the end of McGregor’s reign as the UFC’s second-ever 145-pound champion. That’s what UFC President Dana White seems to be predicting at least.
“I think if [McGregor] wins impressively [Saturday], he doesn’t even go back to [145 pounds],” the UFC President said on Friday in Las Vegas. “That’s what I think. That weight cut is horrible for him. He looks terrible. I’m sure he feels terrible. I think he stays at 170 if he wins tomorrow.”
If White is correct and McGregor does stay at 170 pounds, where he will be fighting for the first time tonight against the younger Diaz brother, it would likely mean the end of his reign as UFC Featherweight Champion without ever having defended the title since capturing it from the previous champion and the only other man in UFC history to hold that particular title, Jose Aldo.
According to White, however, if McGregor does stay at 170 or doesn’t drop back below 155 due to the atrociously hard cut down to 145 pounds, vacating the UFC Featherweight title will be a “non-issue.”
“That would be a non-issue if he doesn’t go back and he understands that,” White said. “Listen, when you’re dealing with Conor McGregor, he’s a smart guy. He gets business. He’s not unreasonable about anything and he will fight anybody, anywhere at any time. How can anybody have a problem with that?
“When you’re dealing with super talented people, they’re always going to be quirky and different in their own ways. But no matter what you are, when you act and fight and step up for anything the way Conor does, you can’t deny the kid.”
Don’t forget to keep MMANews.com in mind for your source of UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz live round-by-round results coverage later this evening. As we always say, we’ll gladly take the proverbial “Pepsi Challenge” against any other MMA website in the world in terms of having the fastest-updated and most-detailed round-by-round live results coverage of a UFC event. No one can match MMANews.com for live MMA results coverage, something we will proudly put on display yet again later this evening. We hope to see you here!
The “Notorious” Conor McGregor looked like a completely different man at last night’s (March 4, 2016) UFC 196 weigh-ins compared to his previous weigh-ins. That’s because the Irishman will be taking on Nate Diaz in a welterweight battle, two whole weight classes up from his usual home at featherweight. Fighting at 170-pounds as opposed to
The “Notorious” Conor McGregor looked like a completely different man at last night’s (March 4, 2016) UFC 196 weigh-ins compared to his previous weigh-ins.
That’s because the Irishman will be taking on Nate Diaz in a welterweight battle, two whole weight classes up from his usual home at featherweight.
Fighting at 170-pounds as opposed to 145-pounds, McGregor looks happier, fuller, and much healthier.
With that being said, he does still indeed hold the featherweight title, although it seems more and more likely that he’ll never defend that strap, at least according to UFC President Dana White (Via MMAFighting):
“I think if he wins impressively [Saturday], he doesn’t even go back to 45,” White said at Mandalay Bay’s Light nightclub. “That’s what I think. That weight cut is horrible for him. He looks terrible. I’m sure he feels terrible. I think he stays at 170 if he wins tomorrow.”
McGregor, on the other hand, feels as if it would be no problem dropping back down to featherweight. That is if an interesting challenger were to arise:
“I can go back to 145 no problem,” McGregor said. “Who is there, though? Let me see some of these damn bums get up and fight and make some noise. I just hear crying, complaining, please, begging — all this sh*t. I don’t see nothing appealing. They need to build themselves up right now. I’m sitting pretty. I’m sitting up here. They need to fight and make some noise, make me stand up and sy, OK, I’ll take him on. That’s what I need to see, because right now I see a bunch of complainers, whiners.”
How do you see tonight’s fight playing out, and what do you believe the future holds for the Irishman?
There’s no bigger star in the UFC right now than Conor McGregor. At UFC 196, The Notorious will look to make that statement even more true in the main event.
The featherweight champion is clearly on a mission to become the most accomplished fight…
There’s no bigger star in the UFC right now than ConorMcGregor. At UFC 196, The Notorious will look to make that statement even more true in the main event.
The featherweight champion is clearly on a mission to become the most accomplished fighter in the history of the UFC. Initially, he was supposed to vie for the lightweight championship belt against Rafael dos Anjos, which could have made him the only fighter to simultaneously hold two UFC belts at the same time.
However, a foot injury pulled Dos Anjos off the card, and Nate Diaz was more than willing to take the fight at 170 pounds.
Even with a last-minute replacement in Diaz, the card is supposed to be one of the most lucrative in the organization’s history, per MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani:
It doesn’t hurt that the co-main event is still for a strap. Holly Holm will look to make her first title defense after defeating Ronda Rousey against Miesha Tate in the co-main event. Here’s a look at the entire card along with predictions for each bout. All odds are courtesy of Odds Shark.
What to Watch For
ConorMcGregor Looks to Make History
Diaz is not nearly the opponent Dos Anjos would have been for McGregor, but he still has a shot to join an exclusive club. According to ESPN Stats & Info, the Irishman is looking to do something that only Kenny Florian has done in the UFC:
Florian’s feat was no doubt impressive. But his two victories in the weight classes were nearly six years apart, and he went from winning at welterweight down to featherweight.
McGregor is looking to accomplish the same feat by moving upward in just three months. Not to mention while he’s still holding the belt at 145 pounds.
The jump in weight seems extreme, but as ChamatkarSandhu of MMAjunkie illustrates, McGregor actually looks healthier at 170 pounds than he did when cutting to 145:
McGregor‘s aspirations in the welterweight division aren’t limited to Diaz. The superstar has hinted that he’d like to challenge for the belt, and it’s an idea that UFC president Dana White isn’t necessarily opposed to.
“I’m open to whatever he’s considering doing,” White said at the UFC 196 pre-fight press conference, per Damon Martin of Fox Sports. “I mean if he wants to fight at 170 and he wants to fight Robbie Lawler, Conor is tough to deny these days.”
McGregor could find himself in line for a title shot after a dispatching of Diaz in this fight.
Miesha Tate’s Final Shot at a Title?
Tate might have been the biggest beneficiary of Holm‘s upset of Rousey.
Before Holm‘s victory, she was stuck in the precarious position of proving her worth against nearly every up-and-comer, but she had two losses to the former champion. Essentially, she was forced to become the test for all challengers instead of being a challenger for the title herself.
Now, with a new champion, Tate has yet another crack at becoming a titleholder in the UFC. Holm was the Kryptonite for Rousey that Tate always wanted to be and took the title. Now Tate gets to focus on an opponent other than her nemesis.
“Right now, there’s no other match than Saturday. There’s no looking beyond this, and I don’t know if Ronda’s ever going to come back,” Tate said, per Martin Domin of the Daily Mail. “I can’t bank on what’s next when I have to accomplish this first.”
Tate faces somewhat long odds at UFC 196. Holm‘s win over Rousey has made her the prohibitive favorite over Cupcake in the co-main event. But Tate is a different challenge than the Rowdy was.
Given that all of Tate’s last three wins were by decision, she’s proven that she can go an entire fight and force Holm to prove herself as the champion.
Can IlirLatifi Continue His Knockout Streak?
IlirLatifi is proof of the good things that can happen to a fighter when they help out the company. The light heavyweight made his UFC debut on just four days notice, filling in for injured teammate Alexander Gustafsson against GegardMousasi.
As one might expect, the debut didn’t go his way. He lost a decision to the now-middleweight contender. Still, it opened the door for the hulking Swede to go 4-1 since that fight, with all four wins coming by way of a finish in the first round.
Latifi is a powerhouse, and in an division with a serious need for interesting contenders, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Latifi‘s name show up in the rankings sooner rather than later. The question is if he can continue his streak of finishes against an opponent in Gian Villante, who holds a five-inch height advantage and is coming off a knockout victory of his own.
Latifi says he will go for the finish if it presents itself, but he’s also prepared if the fight turns into a war.
“When the opportunity comes to finish, I’m going to go for it,” Latifi said, per John Morgan and Ken Hathaway of MMAjunkie. “But I always prepare for a tough fight.”
Serving as the lead-in to fights for both Holm and McGregor, Latifi will presumably have a lot of eyeballs on his performance tonight. Another quick knockout would make him one of the evening’s biggest winners.
UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz, who as announced by UFC President Dana White during Friday’s excellent UFC “Unstoppable” press conference will competing in the long-awaited rubber-match against Urijah Faber in the co-main event of UFC 199 in J…
UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz, who as announced by UFC President Dana White during Friday’s excellent UFC “Unstoppable” press conference will competing in the long-awaited rubber-match against Urijah Faber in the co-main event of UFC 199 in June, recently spoke with Luke Thomas of MMAFighting.com about tonight’s UFC 196 main event.
As usual, “The Dominator” gave an incredibly technical breakdown of tonight’s welterweight headline attraction between UFC Featherweight Champion “The Notorious” Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz.
Regarding Diaz having a more storied background against southpaws than McGregor, Cruz offered the following analysis.
“The beautiful thing about this fight is that he’s a southpaw. How many rounds do you think Diaz has against southpaws, comparatively speaking, to the people McGregor has faced in the past?
One, he’s trained with his brother his entire life, who is a southpaw. Two, his brother’s bigger than him, stronger than him and big brothered him, so he’s used to being bullied. He’s used to being talked to in a demeaning manner. He’s used to everything Conor McGregor does because his brother Nick Diaz does the same thing to him day in, day out. There’s nothing that Conor McGregor could do him that his older brother hasn’t already done to him, I promise you if you know Nick.
That’s a huge step in the right direction to begin with because the mental battle isn’t nearly the same as it’s been for all of McGregor’s past opponents. Besides that, the reach doesn’t become as big of an issue also because when you face a southpaw vs. conventional fighter, the conventional fighter gives up range because of the foot placement. When you’ve got a southpaw vs. a southpaw, that evens up just like a conventional fighter vs. conventional fighter. So, that counter left hand that Conor’s so good at, it’s not taken away, but you don’t have to reach as much as his past opponents did.
You got an Aldo who you’re fighting and he has to reach in order to land the left hook, no matter what. That’s one entire side of your body that if you decide to reach with, you’re going to get countered every single time against a southpaw. None of those counter options are there against Diaz for McGregor and that’s one of his biggest weapons.”
Cruz also explained why McGregor’s motion, use of negative space and angles will be his path to victory inside the Octagon on Saturday night.
“That’s his path to winning, to be honest. It’s exactly what we were just saying a second ago. Conor does have an eye for the way that fighters are moving. What I mean by the way fighters are moving is the lines that they’re basing their styles on.
This is the best way I can explain it to the general public. If you’re racing a 700 horsepower Corvette with rear-wheel drive versus and all-wheel drive car, which can take turns because it’s all-wheel drive, the all-wheel drive car is always going to win if there’s turns involved in the race. If it’s a straight line, you might take the muscle car because it doesn’t take as much moving and it doesn’t take as much traction and as much control. But if you’re on a bobbing, weaving course that’s going to have turns, you’re going to want the all-wheel drive car. Every single time.
Conor McGregor turns these fights into windy, turny road, so that you’re forced to not be able to race on a one-way straight, narrow route. What Conor’s doing is he’s making what used to be a straight drag race into a race with a bunch of turns and curves and stops and gos. What that does is it breaks rhythm and it forces the person who’s driving that car or the person who is fighting in that body to deal with way more than just a straight line.
Conor’s movement is the key to why he’s been doing so well. And the reason why it’s been a key is because he sees the basics of everybody else that he’s fought is moving on. They’re moving in straight lines: forward and back. It’s a drag race car. You’re dealing with somebody who’s making a lot of turns.
He uses the fact that you can only go in a straight line against you. He has all these other options when you basically have to stay in a straight line. How do you beat somebody who can turn, brake on a dime, do all these other things when all you can do is go straight and backwards as fast as possible?”
There’s no bigger star in the UFC right now than 