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the list of things that could’ve gone wrong for Conor McGregor, getting
choked by Nate Diaz was perhaps the least surprising. What we know now
is this: Conor McGregor
should stay away from 170 lbs. Nate Diaz is a fairly weak welterweight
compared to the top of the division. Robbie Lawler would take years off
McGregor’s life if they fought. Where could the Irishman be best?
Lightweight. And that’s where he should probably fight next, but is he
worthy of a title shot in another weight division in the face of getting
stopped in the second round? I say no. McGregor should focus on 145.
Frankie Edgar. Jose Aldo. Those are the guys that should be on the tip
of his tongue, and if he can make the weight without risking his health
this is where he should focus himself the rest of 2016.
Updated
06:06
Shock inside the arena as people are trying to come to grips with
the idea McGregor has lost. A small group of Diaz fans holding black
t-shirts march through the stands celebrating his victory but there
isn’t any great sense of agitation or anger among the McGregor fans.
Mostly people seem stunned. It’s not loud in here, no great roar, just
an odd sensation that something happened that no one expected.
06:01
Nate Diaz beats Conor McGregor!!!
Nate
Diaz pulls off a HUGE shock! McGregor swings and misses a spinning back
kick. The cut around Diaz’s eye is fine and doesn’t appear to be
hurting his vision. McGregor continues to advance and press. Diaz has
held up well against McGregor’s power. He waits for McGregor to wade in
and locks up around his waist. Ninety seconds into the second and the
right side of Diaz’s face is covered in blood. McGregor is going for it
now. Kick to the midsection followed by a jab to Diaz. Diaz’s size is
paying off now. McGregor was hurt by a straight left. He’s clearly felt
Diaz’s power and is succumbing to the realities of fighting 25 lbs above
his championship weight. Diaz is pouring it on. He’s working McGregor
over on the clinch. McGregor is throwing everything he’s got and Diaz is
turning it on. McGregor takes a desperation shot and Diaz is operating
from full mount. Here’s comes Diaz with a rear-naked choke. It’s over!
Nate Diaz has defeated Conor McGregor.
Updated
05:57
Conor McGregor v Nate Diaz: Round one
No
touching of the gloves, lots of jawing. This will be fun. McGregor
switches stances, swings and mises on a big left hand. McGregor lands a
solid left. The featherweight champion is looking for damaging shots
early. Diaz pushes McGregor into the fence and is working him in the
clinch. McGregor wings as they separate. McGregor is talking to Diaz.
McGregor keeps looking for an overhand left. He’s missed badly a few
times. Diaz slapped at McGregor as the Irishman closed ground. McGregor
throws a hard leg kick that lands. Midway through the first and McGregor
unfurls a pretty uppercut. Diaz is standing up well to McGregor’s power
so far. Diaz scores a left of his own. He’s slapping away, mixing in
short hooks and jabs. But McGregor is entirely relaxed as he stalks his
gazelle. McGregor slips a jab and shakes his head. Diaz is cut up above
his right eye. McGregor kicks and Diaz catches it into an easy takedown.
The featherweight champion reverses and finishes the first of five
rounds on top of the Californian. Guardian’s unofficial scorecard: 10-9 McGregor.
05:49
In the end the lack of a title doesn’t detract from the
spectacle does it? No matter where he goes, regardless of weight, it’s
the McGregor show.
05:47
Diaz should be about 10 lbs heavier than McGregor. That size
disparity could be most apparent on the floor, where Diaz is his most
dangerous.
05:45
Ireland has once again come to Las Vegas, courtesy of Mr Conor McGregor.
The whole week has been dominated by Conor time, and he’s taken his
sweet time to step into the MGM Grand Garden Arena as his music plays.
Images of McGregor’s ring walk hit the screen, and Mystic Mac holds the
Irish flag over his head.
05:44
And we have our first sight of McGregor. You will be surprised to hear he looks ... confident.
05:40
The women delivered in a big way ahead of the evening’s main event. Now Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz are about to settle their differences in the cage.
05:35
Les Carpenter
Miesha Tate gets the better of Holly Holm. Photograph: Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports
While Miesha Tate celebrates her victory and is interviewed
in the octagon, Holly Holm forlornly walked away led by a small crowd of
security guards who took her quietly through the crowd. A few minutes
before she had entered to huge applause and now she was almost invisible
as she left. A few fans noticed her leaving and leaned in with
cellphones to photograph her. But otherwise the great women’s champion
of the UFC for the last several months departed UFC 196 as if she had already been forgotten.
05:33
Somewhere Ronda Rousey is smiling. If styles make fights, Rousey
would seem to have the perfect antidote to Tate, whom she already
defeated twice. But what happens for the women at 135? Tate-Rousey?
Rousey-Holm?
05:32
Les Carpenter
I’ve
been splitting time tonight between the press room and the arena. The
atmosphere tonight is very different than for December’s UFC
194 when McGregor beat Aldo. That crowd was filled with Irish McGregor
fans and they sang and changed for much of the night. You knew it was a
McGregor crowd. Many of the McGregor fans here are American and the tone
is completely different. It’s more subdued. A telling moment came
in an earlier fight tonight when an Irish fan stood on his seat and
tried desperately to start an “Ole Ole Ole” chant. His shouts were met
with silence and he had to slink back into his chair as people around
him laughed at his failure. The same was true during Friday’s
weigh-in. Instead of a completely-filled MGM Grand Garden Arena where
fans had waited from sunrise to watch a late afternoon weigh-in, the
stands were half-filled and nobody lined up early to get in.
05:30
Tate on her victory: “I knew I had to finish the fight. I had to find that perfect time. I had to be perfect in the fifth. “She
went out like a champion. I have so much respect for this woman. I want
to thank her for stepping in here tonight and giving everything she
had.”
Updated
05:26
Miesha Tate beats Holly Holm!
Holly Holm moves in with a punch against Miesha Tate. Photograph: Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports
Tate is forced to push for advantages, and eats a left
straight. The champion is making the most of exchanges, especially as
they disengage, with kicks to the Tate’s midsection. Tate ducks under a
heavy left, but can’t finish the takedown. Holm has done a much better
job of this since the third. The champion’s size is a difference maker
here. A front kick from Tate scores, and they seem to be opening up
some. Tate swarmed into a takedown, grabbing Holm’s waist and twisting
it down to the floor. But Holm stands and Tate grabs Holm’s neck. The
rear-naked choke is there for her! Tate holds on as Holm slings her to
the floor and the champion is strangled unconscious. Miesha Tate is the
new UFC bantamweight champion!
Updated
05:23
Holly Holm v Miesha Tate: round four
The
champion Holm is pacing in her corner. Tate stands stoic. And action
resumes. Tate will have to do more than she did in the third. Tate may
keep it simple. Short jabs and left straights have been her best weapons
thus far. Tate grabs a side kick and tries to push Holm into the fence,
but the champion did well to turn away from the fence. Holm had Tate
locked in a clinch and disengaged. They’re at distance again in the
center of the Octagon with three minutes to go in the fourth. Holm went
after Tate’s face with with a kick and missed, but Tate wasn’t able to
counter it into a takedown. Holm sprawled hard on another takedown
attempt and stood, that was terrific. That’s six of seven takedown
attempts thus far denied. The one time it wasn’t was terrible for Holm,
so you can why she is working so hard to remain standing. Tate’s offense
isn’t there again, and Holm’s still has her feet under her. A strong
combination from Holm at the end of the round seals this period for the
champion. Guardian’s unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Holm.
05:17
Les Carpenter
The
enthusiasm picked up in the arena for the Holm-Tate fight. There are
clear fan divisions here with the vast majority of the fans supporting
Holm and chanting her name with a smaller but more vocal group backing
Tate. When Tate pulled Holm down in the second round and had her pinned
to the canvas the shouts of “Miesha Miesha, Miesha” filled the stands. With
each landed punch the crowd seems to grow more excited and agitated. at
the same time. There was a definite edge as Holm looked helpless to
defend herself in the second. Through the third round that strange
tension has continued to fill the arena.
05:15
Holly Holm v Miesha Tate: round three
Holm
comes out with a low crouch. Will she kick the rest of the way? Both
fighters approached the first minute of the middle period with an easy
pace. Tate wings a left straight that just misses. Holm sits down on a
counter and pops Tate’s head with a punch. She sat on that one. Tate
wanted to duck under a punch for a takedown and Holm denied her.
Important for Holm, who was outclassed on the floor in the second. With
two minutes to go in the third, however, Holm appears in control. Tate
has not pressed the action, and she may be looking for a late rush to
influence the judges. A straight left bounces off Tate’s mouth. They
briefly mix it up and Holm ends the sequence with a crowded side kick to
Tate’s stomach. The challenger misses badly on a takedown attempt. Holm
would appear to have seized control of the fight again. Guardian unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Tate
05:09
Holly Holm v Miesha Tate: Round two
Tate
shows more initiative to start the second, and nearly ate a counter
left punch to the mouth. Great timing by Tate to dodge a punch and put
Holm down on the floor. Tate moves to side control and this is exactly
what she wants. The challenger is working on advancing position and
landing shots. Ninety seconds into the second and Tate is working from
half guard. Holm does not look comfortable on the bottom. Tate hasn’t
tried to secure full guard, and she’s exerting a lot of energy to get
off her back. But no dice. Tate is isolating Holm’s left arm, while
offering elbows and short strikes from the top. Tate postures up and has
taken full control of the fight. Holm goes to her knees and the
champion is in a very dangerous spot. Tate is going for a choke. Can she
finish? No! Tate has a minute to work but she’s looking for the finish
now.
Very, very dangerous for Holm here, but the champion hasn’t
given in. Impressive effort by Holm to survive. Twenty seconds to go and
Tate doesn’t look like she’ll finish. But it was a great five minute
stretch for the challenger. Guardian’s unofficial scorecard: 10-8 Tate.
Updated
05:03
Holly Holm v Miesha Tate: Round one
The
first significant engagement of the bantamweight title fight occurred
after the opening minute. Holm tossed out a left straight and a side
kick. Tate isn’t pressing the issue, and she attempted to turn a Holm
kick into a takedown, which was defended. Tate, though, scored a left
hook as they disengaged. Midway through the first Holm bullied Tate,
slamming a punch into her mouth and shoving the challenger backwards.
Holm is keeping a low crouch, firing off jabs and kicks with her lead
leg. Again Holm pressed forward, starting with a lead left, leading to
some redness around Tate’s left cheek. Holm hasn’t stayed in one spot—in
fact she’s been moving since she stepped in the octagon several minutes
ago. Tate has to mix it up on the inside, and that’ll mean waiting for
Holm to attack. High kick from Holm was blocked, but memories of the
shot that finished Ronda Rousey sure linger. Guardian unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Holm
Updated
04:54
Holly Holm comes skipping into the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The champ looks focused and eager to step in the cage.
Updated
04:50
Johnny Manziel is in the arena. And he’s been pictured with Jon Jones. What could go wrong with those two together?
04:49
Holly Holm and Miesha Tate are on deck
Holly
Holm’s first UFC bantamweight title defense is up next. The 34-year-old
has been tremendous in the aftermath of her destruction of Rousey—one
of the most stunning finishes in UFC
title history. Miesha Tate is a hard-nosed challenger, but if Holm is
on her game it’s difficult to imagine Tate engineering a game plan to
ruin the Rousey rematch.
04:43
Latifi beats Villante by UD
The
third straight decision on the pay-per-view comes to a close with Ilir
Latifi taking a clear decision. The musclebound 5’ 10” Latifi from
Malmo, Sweden control Villante each of the fight’s three rounds, mixing
up takedowns with several heavy right hands. Villante didn’t put
together much offensively other than a kick here or there, but he failed
to answer Latifi’s pressure. Judges cageside saw the contest 30-27 for
Latifi, the same as Guardian.
Updated
04:41
Latifi catches Villante midway through the round, then misses
with a big roundhouse. That’s followed up with another big swing and a
miss - an upper cut this time. But it’s been Latifi’s round, and fight.
Villante survives but the judges are likely to give the fight to his
opponent.
04:35
Latifi
is the more effective fighter in round two. Taking Villante to the
ground on a few occasions. If it goes to the judges, then Latifi is the
favorite. On to the third ...
The first three fights on the PPV haven’t brought much energy.
Latifi and Villante are two big, powerful light heavyweights and could
change that, but so far this McGregor crowd hasn’t had much of a chance
to yell during the main card.
04:20
Corey Anderson beats Tom Lawlor by UD
Corey Anderson is now 9-1 after his victory. Photograph: Todd Lussier/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Off the opening bell of their light heavyweight fight, Tom
Lawlor pounced on Corey Anderson, a -300 favorite, setting up the
potential for an upset of a solid prospect. However two of the three
judges still saw the opening round for Anderson, and the trio was
unanimous in favoring the 26-year-old up-and-comer out of Rockford, Ill.
(30-27, 30-27, 29-28). Lawlor returned to the light heavyweight
division last July after campaigning at 185 pounds, and off his wild
knockout of Gian Villante (who fights next against Ilir Latifi) was
given a pay-per-view slot. He seemed to do enough to warrant some
consideration from the judges. I saw the bout 29-28 for Lawlor, though
the second round was extremely close and could have been scored 10-10
without much discussion. For Anderson, now 9-1, this was an important
result as he continues to climb the 205lbs ranks.
04:10
Both men raise their arms at the end of the fight. Lawlor had a
great start but Anderson worked his way back into the fight. Let’s see
what the judges decide ... and Anderson takes it by UD.
Updated
04:03
The Irish fans are in full voice already - and Conor is barely in
the building. Meanwhile, Lawlor comes out strong again in the second
round and ends it with another barrage of blows. Anderson wasn’t
expecting this.
03:58
Lawlor rocks Anderson with a flurry of blows in the first round -
and it looks like we have an upset on our hands. But Anderson regroups
and steadies himself to see out the round. This is a lot closer than we
thought it would be heading into the second round though ...
03:51
Tom
Lawlor and Corey Anderson are now in the octagon for their light
heavyweight fight. Anderson the heavy favorite in this one. On
the pay-per-view broadcast UFC color commentator Joe Rogan notes Tom
Lawlor’s entrance to Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” is a first for the
promotion. Leave it to Lawlor, a ham who stepped on the scale at
Friday’s weigh-in dressed as Conor McGregor.
Inevitably,
Gerard Butler has turned up because he is contractually obliged to be
within 20 yards of any violence anywhere in the world. Just in case he
needs to step in and save the President or something:
Amanda Nunes overcame Valentina Shevchenko in the evening’s first fight.
Photograph: Christian Petersen/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Amanda Nunes put enough distance between
herself and Valentina Shevchenko during the first 10 minutes of their
three round fight to take a deserved decision. Nunes, a 27-year-old
Brazilian, has worked her way to top contender status in Holly Holm’s
division, but fading in the third round against Shevchenko may take some
luster off her unanimous decision win (29-28, 29-27, 29-27) for Nunes.
Two judges scored the second round 10-8 for Nunes, which lines up with
the Guardian’s score of the fight. I saw it 29-27 for Nunes, winner of
three in a row inside the Octagon since changing champs to train with
American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Fla. “This is a very tough fight
for me because I never fight three rounds,” Nunes said. “This is a big
test for my career to the next step.” She’ll be watching the Holm-Tate as close as anyone later tonight.
Updated
03:12
Proof that eating a bit more is good for your looks:
Seeing as the main card is now up and running, we should have a proper intro: There are two big mixed martial arts fights in Las Vegas tonight. In the main event, the one and only Irishman Conor McGregor
takes not one but two steps up in weight classes to fight veteran Nate
Diaz at 170 pounds. It’s not the title fight McGregor lobbied for and
received against UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, but as a
replacement fight on two week’s notice all parties involved couldn’t
have done better. Leading up to the McGregor-Diaz spectacle, UFC bantamweight champion Holly Holm will defend her title for the first time since dethroning Ronda Rousey in Australia.
Interesting to see Holly Holm recast as a knockout artist. 33 boxing wins, just 9 KOs. #UFC196
In total, five fights makeup the UFC 196 bill from the MGM Grand Garden Arena: McGregor vs. Diaz (170 lbs) Holm vs. Tate (135 lbs) Gian Villante vs. Ilir Latifi (205 lbs) Corey Anderson vs. Tom Lawlor (205 lbs) Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko (135 lbs)
Updated
02:48
Les Carpenter
In
the preliminary fights Vitor Miranda beat Marelo Guimaraes on a TKO
early in the second round of their middleweight fight. It was Miranda’s
third-straight knockout giving him the UFC’s second-longest knockout
streak behind Conor McGregor’s five. Here’s what he had to say after:
I’m honored to hear that I’m second for the UFC’s longest active
knockout streak (McGregor – 5, Miranda – 3), I’m going to keep working
hard until I am first on that list. I’d like to fight as soon as
possible, I’d love to be on that Curitiba card in May. It is very close
to my hometown and I get the chills just thinking about all of my
supporters who could attend. Then, next on my list is getting into the
top-15 in the division.
02:41
Tonight’s timetable:
the main card is due to start at 10pm ET/3am GMT. Holly Holm should be
in action around 11.30pm ET/4.30am GMT and McGregor is on after that.
But times will vary depending on stunning three-second knockouts/Donald
Trump showing up to fight Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz in a free for all. Meanwhile, Nate Diaz has turned up and is walking quite slowly through a car park:
Josh will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s his preview of tonight’s main event:
Tonight in Las Vegas, Irish star Conor McGregor
was scheduled to fight for history. Two UFC titles around one waist.
That was the 27-year-old’s intention as he pushed his promoter, Zuffa,
to a place it had never gone before. McGregor captured the
featherweight belt from long-reigning José Aldo in 13 seconds late last
year. It was an incredible thing to witness – timing, speed and power
meeting a moment – and a massive moneymaker for the UFC and Mystic Mac,
who has called many of his shots. Off the strength of his results and
charisma, UFC
heeded McGregor’s call and matched its 145lb champion against its 155lb
champion, Rafael dos Anjos, with the lightweight belt on the line. It
looked very much like McGregor asked for and received the toughest
challenge he could find, a highly admirable trait among champion
prizefighters, and then the rock steady Brazilian cracked his left foot
on the knee of a sparring partner 15 days before the 5 March
pay-per-view contest at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. One day after
news broke that Dos Anjos couldn’t compete, the UFC nimbly salvaged
McGregor’s spot on the card by announcing he would fight Nate Diaz 25lbs
above his championship weight. Diaz has already fought at welterweight
several times, and is the naturally bigger guy. Unquestionably the
switch in opponent remains a significant test for McGregor, who is
likely to be next to challenge welterweight champion Robbie Lawler,
possibly this summer at UFC 200, if action falls in his favor on the
weekend. If it does not, McGregor may have to forget scaling weight
classes for a stretch and retreat to featherweight, where a hard weight
cut once again becomes an issue.
Updated
UFC 196: Conor McGregor stunned by Nate Diaz
Reviewed by Unknown
on
14:04:00
Rating: 5
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) March 5, 2016
Top: Conor McGregor weighing 145lbs on Dec 11th for the Aldo fight.
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