UFC 196 - McGregor vs Diaz

[Jab]

What was Diaz's game plan exactly? Get hit in the face until McGregor is gassed?

Nate's plan was what it pretty much always is. Precision beats power when you have the chin to take a punch. The Diaz brothers can get hit with incredible shots and walk through them. McGregor didn't use the jab where Nate did. McGregor is use to putting people to sleep with his power and that game plan doesn't work too well on a Diaz brother.

 

[FlowersByIrene]

Nate's plan was what it pretty much always is. Precision beats power when you have the chin to take a punch. The Diaz brothers can get hit with incredible shots and walk through them. McGregor didn't use the jab where Nate did. McGregor is use to putting people to sleep with his power and that game plan doesn't work too well on a Diaz brother.

It just doesnt sound like the best gameplan to me but hey, Diaz has only been knocked out once so it must work

 

[Jab]

It just doesnt sound like the best gameplan to me but hey, Diaz has only been knocked out once so it must work

The time that Nate was "knocked out" was when his brother, Nick, threw in the towel. Nate was betting beaten badly but he wasn't knocked out. Also, the Diaz brothers are not known for their intelligent game plans. They have world class BJJ and yet they never go for the takedown.

McGregor didn't have a bad game plan, just not one tailored to someone who can absorb so much power. Also, trying to take down a guy with the ground skills is just not sane, which is what happens when you become a "panic wrestler" as McGregor has said about his other opponents.

McGregor's trick so far has been to KO people with the left hand so it will be interesting to see if his fighting style evolves after this.

 

[phantom13]

The reports about McGregor tapping are not all necessarily educated. From listening to a few podcasts it seems like a lot of BJJ guys have different opinions on this, but the professional consensus is that the tap was fine. Not tapping and going to sleep is giving up, or conceding, just the same that tapping is.

Holm and McGregor didn't have much option in the submissions, Holm less than McGregor, but still. They both couldn't fight the choke once it was locked in. Tate had her second hand behind Holm's head and Nate had it locked up (although the locked hand was in a slightly more defend-able position). I guess the point is, once you are no longer in a position to defend the choke or stop defending the submission, tapping or going to sleep is pretty much the same thing.

Add to that, Nate had rocked McGregor and he wasn't in full awareness of what was going on. He went for the takedown because he was trying to recover. Holm was on the ground because Tate took her there. They might be both the same submission but there are so many more things that come into consideration besides "Holm didn't tap and McGregor did," it's a flawed argument.

The tap vs no tap thing is totally personal. Guys in my gym in comps try not to tap to a choke in the hopes their opponent might gas there arms going for it. The only unanimous rule I've ever heard is you tap to joint locks cause broken arms and legs are s**t.

 

[phantom13]

It just doesnt sound like the best gameplan to me but hey, Diaz has only been knocked out once so it must work

If it works it's the best possible game plan.

 

[MMAPride Scott]

I do think Connor would of been beaten by RDA comprehensively. He will go back to 145 fight aldo who knows how that fight is going to look. Eventually you will see him work his way up to 155

 

[CrowAboutIt]

 

[Nickos66]

Finally, i've caught up and read the entire thread.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at some of the non-regular posters input.

On another note, I think Aldo will go into the rematch with a vastly revised approach and try and drag Connor into the later rounds, knowing full well that Connor gets discouraged and drops his chin when the knock out blow isn't there. If Aldo can get it into the 3rd rd+ and take a few hits without dropping his bundle he'll get his title back. Connor's gonna need to develop his heart muscle because that TD attempt was atrocious - he'd clearly had enough.

I have no doubt they'll fight again down the track (Nate & Connor, that is).

 

[DazalenkoUBewty]

Finally, i've caught up and read the entire thread.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at some of the non-regular posters input.

On another note, I think Aldo will go into the rematch with a vastly revised approach and try and drag Connor into the later rounds, knowing full well that Connor gets discouraged and drops his chin when the knock out blow isn't there. If Aldo can get it into the 3rd rd+ and take a few hits without dropping his bundle he'll get his title back. Connor's gonna need to develop his heart muscle because that TD attempt was atrocious - he'd clearly had enough.

I have no doubt they'll fight again down the track (Nate & Connor, that is).

Haven't even thought of a Nate v Conor rematch, but I like it... I like it a lot!

 

[BradWCE]

I'm coming down from the high of the card (well, not really), but now I need to give McGregor the credit he deserves. Going up in weight like he did deserves praise. He was going up to fight RDA and that was a really tough fight for him. Then on short notice he agreed to fight someone else. All worthy of praise. After everything he's said he couldn't really not fight, but that doesn't change the fact that he deserves credit for what he did.

I've read through the thread and have a few comments.

I don't think Diaz's gameplan being simplified to getting hit in the face until McGregor gassed is very fair. No doubt he took some big shots, but at no stage was he getting completely destroyed or anything. The first time I saw the fight I thought McGregor did better than he actually did. After rewatching it that first round was a lot closer than I initially thought. McGregor was throwing full power shots and landed a number of them, but Diaz was popping him with shots throughout the round. McGregor landed 5 more significant strikes in the 1st round and 6 more total strikes. I think McGregor won the round, but it was actually pretty close.

I've mentioned the Heavy Hands Podcast a few times on here and I think it's great. Patrick Wyman and Connor Ruebusch are great on the podcast and their written stuff is great too. One of them mentioned that Nate Diaz getting lumped in with Nick means that Nate's boxing gets undervalued. I saw an interview with Andre Ward (who's trained with the Diaz brothers) where he said Nate is the better boxer of the two as well. I can definitely see that. Nick needs to push you into the fence and tee off on you to have a lot of success on the feet. Nate can stay at range and throw jabs and crosses, with some hooks thrown in. He's also got more defensive tricks than Nick. The fights with Gomi show the differences between the two quite well, even if Nate fought a clearly worse version of Gomi than Nick did.

Here's the Heavy Hands post-UFC 196 breakdown episode: http://traffic.libsyn.com/heavyhands/94_nate_diaz_stockton_wut.mp3

People saying that McGregor should have gone to sleep instead of tapping isn't a great point to me. I posted earlier about being surprised that he tapped, but that's all it was. After seeing his fight with Mendes and how nothing was stopping him from walking forward, and the way he talks I didn't think he'd accept defeat until he was completely out. The fact that he didn't doesn't say anything bad about him. I've seen fighters saying that he didn't fight the choke enough and tapped quickly, but that's a different argument. The whole Holm didn't tap and McGregor did stuff is dumb. Most fighters tap instead of going out, so it doesn't mean anything.

When's the last time Nate Diaz dropped thunderous ground and pound like that? After this PPV I went back and watched some Nate Diaz fights. The fight with Markham all the way back at UFC 111 might be when. That ground and pound on McGregor was short, but devastating. Nate did him a favour by locking in the choke because he could have finished him with strikes. If McGregor tapped to strikes he'd be copping even more s**t, which I really never understood. Getting choked out isn't as bad as getting knocked out.

 

[Nickos66]

Haven't even thought of a Nate v Conor rematch, but I like it... I like it a lot!

It'll inevitably happen, Connor said he'll see him again.

Connor gets what Connor wants.

 

[BradWCE]

Saw this interview before the fights. Thought it was hilarious mainly because Nate was so far out of his element. "The * is this? The money channel?" That had me and McGregor both cracking up. Then Nate walks out later.



The short build up to the fight with a couple of press conferences and a few interviews was great. Might have been better like this than with a longer build up because stuff would have got repetitive.

This interview after the fight with Diaz was cool. Diaz has never seemed this relaxed in any sort of interview that I recall seeing.

 

[Nickos66]

That Diaz interview is mad. So much love for the guy.

He's been unhappy and disillusioned with this game for so long, after being at the top of the company bonus lists and having beaten good names. I'm just so stoked for the guy that he's not only getting his dues but he's also got the motivation to give it all a good shake again, watching Nate fight when he's in a good headspace has been a joy to watch in the past.

He was at his lowest around the time of the RDA fight, no motivation to fight, to make weight, injured and making as little as 13K as a result after missing weight. I can't wait to see his next fight, and if that's RDA - I have no doubt he'll put in twice the performance he did last time.

Side note: with his fighter & performance of the night bonuses on the weekend - he just passed Anderson Silva as the most bonuses awarded fighter in UFC history.

 

[Ry009]

It'll inevitably happen, Connor said he'll see him again.

Connor gets what Connor wants.

Clearly not a fan of the antics I'm guessing?

I don't think anyone is taking anything away from Diaz though. Connor underestimated him big time and rightly paid the price.

 

[Oaktree]

Saw this interview before the fights. Thought it was hilarious mainly because Nate was so far out of his element. "The **** is this? The money channel?" That had me and McGregor both cracking up. Then Nate walks out later.

The short build up to the fight with a couple of press conferences and a few interviews was great. Might have been better like this than with a longer build up because stuff would have got repetitive.

This interview after the fight with Diaz was cool. Diaz has never seemed this relaxed in any sort of interview that I recall seeing.

The interviewer, although funny to watch, seemed almost demeaning to the guys when discussing money.

Like why on earth would you ask someone does having a mansion or Ferrari mean success to you? It was awesome Diaz didn't give a sh*t about what she was saying and Conor was taking the piss. When Conor said 'can I see a picture of you', that was awesome.

It kinda felt like it was Conor and Nate vs the interviewer.

 

[Gigantic]

Jack Slack did a bit of a piece on the fight

http://fightland.vice.com/blog/death-of-a-southpaw-how-conor-mcgregor-lost-to-nate-diaz

I recommend some of you read it.

 

[Ry009]

Jack Slack did a bit of a piece on the fight

http://fightland.vice.com/blog/death-of-a-southpaw-how-conor-mcgregor-lost-to-nate-diaz

I recommend some of you read it.

As someone who's still new to the sport, really opened up my eyes a lot, cheers for posting it.

 

[NSWCROW]

Fox sports 3 now !!