Sunday, March 6, 2016
Diaz says "If I had the push that McGregor had."
Nate Diaz, while in the limelight reference incognito "the push" McGregor has had in his career that propelled him into another weight class for another title opportunity. Diaz, following his 3rd round submission of Conor McGregor, snapping his 15-fight win streak, during the UFC 196 Post-Fight Conference was undoubtedly referring to the UFC and Zuffa administration support of McGregor's move up from Featherweight in search of more attention and capital, robbing Jose Aldo, who was unbeaten for 10 years prior to his UFC 194 KO loss to McGregor, of his opportunity for a rematch. Also, awaiting titles in the UFC Featherweight division, which has caused a logjam due to the UFC's support of McGregor, is Frankie Edgar (on a 5-fight win streak), Max Holloway (on an 8-fight win streak) and Raphael Assuncao (on a 7-fight win streak.) With a division so stacked, the only reason McGregor would have been allowed to stray from his obligation to defend his title (as the saying goes "You're not a true champion unless you've defended your title") and fall into the opportunity of a superfight.
Dana White and the UFC's campaign against the Diaz brothers are well-known; they are brash, have a history with marijuana use and tend to say the truth while White prefers to censor what he believes should be said or heard. Drug use is a problem in every sport yet when Jon Jones, who has not fought since his suspension due to a hit and run incident in New Mexico and testing positive for cocaine following his title defense against Daniel Cormier at UFC 182. What remains to be seen is not who is worthy but who is profitable. Jon Jones inactivity is only due to his criminal mischief and he remains to be the #1 Pound-for-Pound fighter even though Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson, the only and current UFC Flyweight champion has defended his title twice and has swept through 4 of the top 15 fighters in his division. Jon Jones's last fight at UFC 182 brought in $3,700,000.00 in sales while Demetrious Johnson's last two headliners and title defenses at UFC 186 and 191 brought in a total of $2,030,700.00 while the latest fight UFC 196 brought in $8,100,000.00. If the profit isn't there, fans won't see the humble fighters who deserve title shots over those who are brash, loud and take to social media to decimate their opponent's character. In the words of Floyd Mayweather, "If it aint about money then what the hell is it about?"
What is clear is that Dana White is one of the co-founders who took over the UFC while it was in financial ruins and he can be credited on its comeback and continued success. The question is what can Nate Diaz do to make himself more profitable? What can Dominick Cruz do to make himself more profitable? The fans and the media must take to the competitive nature of fighters and the best way to do that is to allow them to feed into the stereotype of the fighter, which is always been believe to be bare animal instinct, humanness without finesse, without evolution. The public ignores humble individuals unless they are rich and famous and say cliche things, they rally to see animals in conflict. Just watch documentaries of National Geographic.
All respect must be given to Nate Diaz for his outward speech. McGregor wasn't humble in the sense people believe, he slightly made excuses for himself and his loss by stating that Diaz was the heavier guy and that he was more efficient with his energy. Diaz, not to be hushed, returned, calling him out, saying that he was the more effective boxer and all around mixed martial artist, which coming into this fight, all those who know mma, knew that McGregor has a very huge deficiency on the ground, tallying his 3 losses up via 3 submissions.
Saturday, March 5, 2016
Will Meisha Tate Remain Champion Long?
With an impressive submission victory over former Women's Bantamweight champion Holly Holm, Meisha Tate has finally won the UFC title she has been questing for for years. Now what is up next for her most MMA fans don't have to guess long for....
The woman who has defeated her twice...Ronda Rousey. Tate has fallen to Rousey twice, first in 2012 in a headliner in the now absorbed Strikeforce and again at UFC 168, both by submission victory for Rousey. Tate's strength is her pressure and ground game and when matched with Rousey, she usually comes up short and with the recent depression and all but disapearance of Rousey after her disgraced defeat at the hands of Holm in Australia, you can bet the Rousey sees her opportunity to regain what she has lost.
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What's Next for Conor McGregor?
Following his recent one-sided second round submission loss to Nate Diaz, it has become apparent to all McGregor bandwagoners that he is not invincible. So what is next on the agenda for McGregor?
It is obvious that now that he has failed in his attempt to secure a Catchweight win that he will not face Lightweight Champion Rapheal Dos Anjos, who withdrew from UFC 196 following an injury nor will he be able to move up to Welterweight and challenge the now king of the division Robbie Lawler. The only thing left for McGregor is to return to Featherweight and defend the title he should have defended before moving up another weight class.
Yet the move up was not solely his responsibility or desire, he was allowed to do so by the UFC being that he was billed as "the Mayweather of MMA" predicting that he would bring is much more money and attention to the sport if he were involved in a superfight and became the first UFC Champion to hold multiple belts at one time. McGregor now 19-3, all his losses coming by way of submission due to his lack of a ground game, must now return to a not-so-pleasant division where awaiting him is the Featherweight #1 contender Frankie Edgar, who has a very well known submission prowess. In line behind him is Max Holloway (15-3), whom McGregor defeated at UFC Fight Night 26 via unanimous decision and since has gone on to win 8 straight wins in a very competitive and talented division.
Before the UFC again bills a fighter as the next best thing, they must make sure he is an all-around fighter who can withstand ground attacks; after all, this is Mixed Martial Arts and McGregor's fall is representation of susceptibility.
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