Last night the UFC was turned upside down with 2 major title bout upsets by Meisha Tate and Nate Diaz.
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Controversial former UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones had some nice things to say about Conor McGregor on his Instagram account yesterday after UFC 196.
But she came back from the cusp, in her career and in Saturday night’s fight, to prove that she will not be the latest entry on the list of great fighters to have never held a UFC title. They were huge losers, who now must claw and climb their way back to the top, with no guarantees that will happen in the tightly controlled UFC hierarchy. I had many chances to not do this and sit and wait, but I went in.
McGregor, the featherweight champion fighting up two weight classes on short notice against Diaz, started typically fast and furious, landing heavy blows and bloodying his American challenger early. “He’s a hard-hitting little guy, but nothing I never felt before”.
Although a third dance with Rousey could be among the most lucrative fights in UFC history, Tate appeared to be the person least interested in choosing her next move.
“I put a knee in his stomach and heard him go huuuh”.
McGregor became the first UFC fighter to have a listed $1 million purse, which was expected to grow much more than that with a share of the pay-per-view and bonuses and Holm had a $500,000 guarantee.
“I’m simply heartbroken, that’s all”, he finally said. She’s very risky. She’s capable of catching anyone at any moment.
Although Tate controlled the second round on the ground, Holm picked apart Tate with punches for the other three rounds before the fifth.
Holm will definitely be back though and a rematch against Meisha Tate is definitely an option.
But because UFC is as much spectacle as it is sport, McGregor agreed to fight at 25 pounds above his normal weight to salvage the card.
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Flash forward to myself and the same colleague discussing how Tate’s lack of a willingness to pull the trigger was going to cost her this fight. You got nowhere to run now. “My job as the champion is to fight the next best person – so whoever that is I’ll fight them”.
