UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor was choked into submission by Nate Diaz in a stunning reverse at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
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The identity of his opponent is not yet certain, but Frankie Edgar and the man whom McGregor beat to scoop featherweight gold, Jose Aldo, are the names that have been suggested.
Despite the loss, McGregor remains the featherweight champion and is expected to go back to his true weight class.
“I’m not surprised (expletive) [of the result]”, said Mr. Diaz after the fight.
Following that massive upset, McGregor and Nick Diaz took their respective walkouts to the Octagon for the night’s main event, with their respective mouthpieces running, and ready for a war. Shit happens. I’ll take this loss like a man. I will not shy away from it. I will not change who I am. Tate took the title and messed up the UFC’s plans for a rematch between Holm and Rousey. Diaz was going to try to get the fight to the ground, where his jiu jitsu is superior to McGregor’s. Nate Diaz is likely to get rewarded for the victory and move up from his 89 Overall Rating.
Considering the circumstances of the this fight-short notice, fought at 170 pounds-it will be interesting to see what this means for each fighter moving forward. I had many chances to not do this and sit and wait, but I went in.
The main event was the greatest moment in the career of Diaz, a pugnacious veteran from a notorious fighting family in Stockton, California.
The McGregor-Diaz fight was preceded by Miesha Tate’s sensational victory.
McGregor had landed some heavy left-hand shots of his own in the first round, opening up a cut over Diaz’s right eye that streamed blood as he struggled to cope with McGregor’s quick feet and hands.
“I thought I had to be like a pit bull on a bone”, Tate said.
It’s not just McGregor and Rousey who have fallen to the new curse, however. I’m humbled in victory and defeat.
“(McGregor) punches hard”, Diaz said.
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The earliest forecast for Rousey’s return had been October, but filming on the two movies she’s cast in reportedly hasn’t been scheduled yet, so perhaps there’s still a chance of her returning to fight at UFC 200 in July.
