For anybody that missed them. :good Conor McGregor vs. Nate Díaz: [yt]d9WljI7h5cM[/yt] Holly Holm vs. Miesha Tate: [yt]yJosNVBvQmY[/yt] My thoughts... Nate completely took away Conor's stand-up offense with the following: anticipation of his moves and subtle/economical adjustments defensively (such as turning in his right shoulder and pulling his head back while buoying himself off the cage at an angle to slip the head-kick and then maneuver free out the side door) excellent chin, stood up to McG's left cross very well, seeming to surprise McG with how little it affected him beyond the broken skin. countering and parrying, often controlling McGregor's hands at medium-long range simply by slapping them down and then sprinkling light but plentiful & discouraging punches into McGregor's face, throwing off his rhythm. calmness. When McGregor snatched his arm to pull him onto the ground and then rolled over into top control, Díaz looked perfectly comfortable and just went about minimizing how advantageous McGregor's position was and continuing to smack him with light counters from his back. McGregor was the one that appeared confounded by facing a fellow southpaw. Díaz on the other hand projected the air of being nonplussed, almost bored (in a fashion typical of the Diaz bros. Incidentally, does the UFC still test for ganja? :hey) Near the end Díaz was just playing with him like a cat with a mouse...willingly taking 3-4 bombs from McGregor walking forward just to bop him on the cheek with a single counter right hook. Then he would switch on a dime to employing his awkwardness to make it hard for McGregor to land, while still getting to him and wearing him down with shots that were never explosive but more than enough cumulatively to erode him piece by piece. McGregor after being on the receiving end of just a few seconds of GnP essentially committed professional suicide by rolling onto his stomach with no clear plan to defend himself, almost ensuring that he would get choked out by the very aware & submission-savvy Díaz. One question though, why did they schedule this for a championship length of 5 rounds? :huh McGregor was moving up and Díaz held no belt, so it was neither for a title nor an eliminator. Holm vs. Tate, a bona fide title match (and therefore warranting the 5 round treatment) was far more competitive. Tate actually trailed 38-37 on all three judges' cards heading into the last frame. Holm if she had lasted merely ninety more seconds would have retained via draw, 47-apiece x3. Tate was dominant in the 2nd, imposing her superior ground-game (and those elbows, my goodness! :scaredas and deserving the 10-8 scoring, but otherwise was outclassed when Holm kept it standing. Tate was never able to get past Holm's jabs, front-leg side-kicks or feints of either - but unlike Rousey she wasn't arrogant or stupid enough to just wade in. Very respectful and patient. Bade her time, awaited her opportunity - and seized the moment when it did, just in the nick of time. Holm got tired, having never been stretched that far before in the cage, and made the inevitable mistake (which only means she's human, and isn't meant to be an indictment of her Octagon IQ or stamina) leaving the left hand suspended a moment too long, allowing the shoot which sealed her doom. That was a valiant attempt to flip & slam Tate into the canvas, but Tate was locked on TIGHT, and determined to wear gold. So...now what? Tate vs. Holm II? Tate vs. Rousey III? Tate vs. somebody else (Cat Zingano and Lioness Nunes are next in the rankings, I believe?) while Holm vs. Rousey II happens to determine which gets to challenge her next? :think
I can see Nate getting a title shot at 170 or 155...for Conor?😬😬well he's out of luck, he's likely gonna defend his 145lb belt but no way he beats Frankie Edgar thus the Conor era will be over....and Rousey suddenly felt better so I can see Rousey/Tate 3 at UFC200.
All main events are 5 rounders IB... It's been that way for a couple of years now (Leben v.s Munoz being the 1st)
What? That's stupid. Why? So nothing differentiates championship matches in terms of distance? :huh Is that MMA-wide or just UFC?
Nope, Ever since the Chad Mendes fight I have believed that Frankie would beat Conor....he has the style to beat him....yesterday's fight just makes me believe it more.
Very silly move. Are they going to have their own proprietary glove size next? :roll: Maybe have the fence electrified?
Apparently it may be José Aldo cutting in line for a rematch before Edgar can get his shot... :think In which case Frankie better hope that was no fluke last time, because he isn't beating Aldo in a rematch.
Nate was plenty affected by Conor's punches in the first round , he was backing up to take a breather . Conor just blew his wad going for broke early . If they ever fight again it might last longer but still Nate wins.
