After a UFC event littered with shocking outcomes, Holly Holm no longer held a UFC title and Conor McGregor’s welterweight dreams went up in smoke.
Former UFC welterweight and pound-for-pound king Matt Hughes famously argued that a champion is not truly a champion until they defend their position on the throne.
Holm planned to join the exclusive club of ‘true champions’ on Sunday in Las Vegas. The former four-division boxing queen lit Miesha Tate up like a Christmas tree for multiple rounds, but the tough-as-teak title challenger outlasted the onslaught to set up a dramatic conclusion.
The finish line was in sight for Holm when Tate applied a tight rear-naked-choke. Holm fought the choke, but eventually lost consciousness and her UFC title with 1:30 left on the clock.
If that wasn’t shocking enough, the UFC 196 main event was equally as eye-opening, as California’s Nate Diaz tapped out Irish featherweight champion Conor McGregor in a welterweight bout.
For Diaz, a one-time UFC title challenger and perennial fan favourite, it was a career-defining win on the biggest stage imaginable.
Now that we’ve had a few days to digest the wild ride that was UFC 196, let’s look at what the future could hold for the key participants in the double main event.
Nate Diaz
Diaz has won big fights in the past, but his submission of McGregor ranks above them all.
The 30-year-old is now in a rare field, no longer shackled to discussions of titles or weight classes – now he’s a card-carrying member of the ‘moneyweight fighters club’.
Diaz has options at either lightweight or welterweight and is free to call his own shots, picking the fights that particularly interest him or offer the richest payday.
“The biggest fight possible, [that’s] who I want,” Diaz told a group of reporters on Sunday. “If it ain’t big I don’t even wanna hear about it.”
Championship fights at 155 or 170 pounds have been discussed, but the most likely outcome is that the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace will return to the lightweight pack with his stock at an all-time high.
Prior to the McGregor fight, Diaz was lobbying for a consequential bout against Eddie Alvarez, a two-time Bellator champion and top UFC contender.
If that’s a route that the former UFC title challenger wants to take, I doubt the clash of two all-time great action fighters would upset many fans.
Conor McGregor
McGregor exited the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday with a loss, but not without a UFC title.
The brash 145-pound champion is set to return to his former weight class – 25 pounds lighter – and plans to make his maiden title defence.
The leading candidates for the featherweight title fight are former long-time champion Jose Aldo and perennial contender Frankie Edgar.
Neither are a bad choice, and on a personal level I would prefer the fresh match-up with Edgar, but it seems that the UFC is already gearing up for the McGregor versus Aldo rematch.
There are a lot of reasons to go back to the well – Aldo’s five-year title run ended in a matter of seconds, and the Brazilian striker’s team argues that it was a flash knockout that left many unanswered questions on the table.
Moreover, through countless media interviews and public interactions, there’s a built-in storyline between the two elite 145-pounders that is easy to tap into once again, especially if takes place at UFC 200 in July as is rumoured.
Miesha Tate
Tate, now one of only three fighters in history to hold the UFC and Strikeforce titles, completed arguably the most breathtaking comeback in the history of women’s prizefighting.
It was a career-defining moment for Tate, who previously seemed destined to be remembered as the second banana to Ronda Rousey, unable to get over the hump to win a UFC crown.
Given the chaotic conclusion to the five rounder – which was 90 seconds away from likely being declared a draw – I feel that Tate-Holm II is the best option, but it seems the UFC is already planning to plug former UFC queen Rousey into that fight.
“I think that Ronda now will fight Miesha Tate for the title,” Dana White told ESPN. “That’s what’s going to happen. That’s what I said before this fight even happened. Whoever wins tonight will fight Ronda for the title.”
Holly Holm
The UFC championship is sitting pretty around the waist of Tate, but make no mistake, the biggest fight in women’s MMA – and arguably the entire sport – is Holm versus Rousey II.
Holm’s two biggest possible fights are against Rousey or Tate, but it looks like both of those matches are off Sean Shelby’s matchmaking board.
With those two names crossed off, the real number one contender’s fight is against Amanda Nunes, an enormous and incredibly dangerous former featherweight who extended her winning streak to three-straight at UFC 196.
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