UFC 196 Preview: McGregor vs Diaz, Holm vs Tate

[author image=”https://www.the3pointconversion.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/2015-01-21-12.32.22-1-e1454992109579.jpg” ]Ryan Foley, [/author]

 

 

It all goes down Saturday Night March 5^th 10pm Est Live from a sold out MGM Arena in beautiful Las Vegas. UFC 196 was setup to be a PPV Blockbuster with The Notorious Conor McGregor facing off against Rafael dos Anjos with Holly Holm fighting for the first time since her historical defeat of Ronda “I need a year off” Rousey against Misha Tate. With a late camp injury to another Brazilian fighter, Nate Diaz stepped in late for a “take fight” and will be the replacement fighter for this Welterweight contest set at a weight limit of 170 lbs. This is a huge and unprecedented jump in weight-class in the UFC as the featherweight champion last fought at 145 lbs and has also never had a duel weight-class champion; put that on hold until dos Anjos is healthy enough to compete and complete a training camp.

Since being named the replacement fighter to face Conor McGregor at UFC 196, Nate Diaz has not backed down to what he’s bringing to the fight, and that’s all out toughness. During any moment of speech, you can tell that Diaz has been taken his fare of shots to the head in the octagon, so many that he mocked by McGregor on a recent interview on CNBC stating that “Diaz can’t count to 5!”. Conor McGregor is relentless in his mental tactics he uses to get inside other fighters head. “I’m involved in absolutely everything to do with this. I created this. I thought I was in his hometown; this is the west coast but listen to the crowd for me. Nate was the leading option. There were many, many options but in reality, lots of people pretended they wanted the fight until the fight actually presented itself. Frankie [Edgar] never shut up. And when he was given a phone call and a date, he hasn’t been seen or heard from since. Jose [Aldo] also. Jose was in camp, apparently preparing in case Dos Anjos pulled out and all of a sudden, [Rafael] Dos Anjos pulls out with his bruised foot and Jose isn’t fit.”

Nate Diaz, coming from the rough streets of Stockton California, will never be known for backing down in anything in life, and McGregor will be no exception; his venomous rebuttals give UFC fans confidence that tonight will be an all-out brawl, unlike the horrible and McGregor predicted showing of Jose Aldo, as he was knocked-out with 1 single left punch to his jaw, dropping him to the canvas and a KO stoppage of only 13 seconds for McGregor to win his Featherweight Belt. “I came to fight, they asked me to fight and I said yes from the beginning, so whatever problems they had, I dunno. I came ready to fight. Any weight class, it didn’t matter. There was no hesitation on my part, I was ready to rock the whole time. I said that months ago.”

 

The co-main event fight of the night is set to have much of the same anticipation without all the trash-talk. A weight-drained Holly Holm will defend her UFC Women’s Bantamweight title for the first time against Misha Tate. This fight has a feeling of being fight-of-the-night as a more complete fighter Misha Tate looks to defeat the former Boxing Champion and current UFC Champ Holly Holm with ability to match her striking game, a boxing style that exploited Ronda Rousey as a one-trick-pony fighter after having zero head-movement and receiving countless clean left jabs before being kicked in the side of the head and knocked-out cold requiring reconstructive surgery with thoughts of suicide following the loss. Holm vs Tate is a great co-main event to McGregor vs Anjos as the popularity of Women’s MMA is skyrocketing amongst all fight fans. Get your popcorn ready for an action packed night of UFC beginning with multiple cable prelim fights starting at 8pm est, available on FS1 in the US.