UFC 196 Review: Matches to make for the victors of Saturdays nights shocks.

Wow. What a night. Repeated by many already, but gob-smacked and a lack of words was the only you could sum up the main, and co-main event of UFC 196. How the world of MMA can be flipped on its head in such little time. Amazing.

Tabloids coming out with "The end of the UFC," "The end of the McGregor era" and "The downfall of UFC 200" are all wrong. Saturday was a fantastic night for the UFC, and one which will certainly go down as a key date in the memory books. It was the perfect example of why we all love the unpredictably of MMA, and what makes it so peculiar compared to other sports.

Diaz drinking shots in Cabo
San Lucas, Mexico. Just a few weeks
before his fight with McGregor.

Let's start with the what I titled as "The Celtic Cross meeting The Stockton Slap.” Now don't worry, I won't ramble on about whole ins and outs of what occurred in that main event on Saturday night, so a brief summary will do. Diaz takes McGregor on eleven days notice, gets bloodied up in the first, chokes him out in the second, and then delivers what may be one of the best post-fight speeches of all time in "I'm not surprised motherfuckers."

Even though rumours spread that Diaz was training for a triathlon, judging by his recent Instagram post, this didn't seem to be the case. "I wasn't trainjng for a triathalon before this fight I was on a yacht in cabo gettin my chillax on wit my dudes." Diaz captioned a video showing drinking a shot of liquor on a yahct with his buddies.

Firas Zahabi hints at GSP's return on Twitter.

It almost feels as if Diaz is a champion now after he 'demoted' McGregor at 196. He won the McGregor belt in which Conor commonly referred to. Usually fighting at 155, Diaz faced McGregor at 170-pounds due to the short notice in which he received. Questions are being asked if Diaz's next bout will take place at 170, and potential opponents have already started to pop up. And no, I'm not just speaking about Lawler. Although that fight would be one that appeals to all MMA fans, an opponent with a greater status is coming to mind. Georges "Rush" ST PIERRE! After an interview with Nate Diaz surfaced from bjpenn.com, Firas Zahabi tweeted this. Now don't get me wrong, this isn't the first time GSP has hinted at a comeback to the UFC, and it most likely certainly won't be the last.  However, I will just leave this open for interpretation, with no fights yet announced for UFC 200, this bout would indefinitely be one to kick-start the show!

UFC 196: The Celtic Cross meets The Stockton Slap

What was UFC 197 turned into UFC 196. What was Rafael Dos Anjos then turned into Nate Diaz. What was a lightweight title fight has now turned into a welterweight bout. The hectic world of MMA just never seizes to disappoints. In just four days, Conor McGregor is set to take on Nate Diaz at the main event of UFC 196 in what promises to be a compelling match up.

McGregor and Diaz face off at the UFC 196 Press Conference.

Although it has only been a week since Diaz was announced as McGregor's new opponent, there has (not surprisingly) been much animosity between the pair already. Heated exchanges had already begun just a few days later at the UFC 196 press conference with McGregor referring to Diaz as a "cholo gangster," and Diaz boldly stating that not only McGregor, but everyone in the UFC is "on steroids." However, enough of the hyper, and let's get down to the nitty gritty stuff, the fight. It is the first time in McGregor's MMA career that he takes on someone who is taller than him. Often known for his great height and reach whilst competing in the featherweight division, this is no longer the case when he steps into the cage on March 5th. Diaz will hold a three-inch height, and two-inch reach advantage over McGregor, which could be play a key part in Diaz's long fighting style, and keeping McGregor at bay where Diaz can hit, and not be hit. In his last fight against Michael Johnson, Diaz put on a boxing clinic in which he outclassed Johnson to gain a fight of the night bonus. However, standing and trading in the pocket is not only one of Diaz's best traits, he also has a magnificent ground game and slick Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to match. It will be interesting to see if Diaz does shoot for a takedown and attempt a submission, although very unlikely and uncharacteristic of his game, it is without a doubt a possibility.

Diaz calls out McGregor explicitly after his
win vs Michael Johnson in December.

For Conor, adaptation may be his biggest strength coming into this fight. McGregor has shown whilst being in the UFC that he can fight moving forwards, on the ground and also moving backwards. Just take a look at his fight versus Dustin Poirier, although it only lasted less than two minutes, McGregor maintained octagon control throughout, kept Poirier on the outside, and fought on the offense the whole fight. Then his fight against Max Holloway, the only time McGregor has never finished an opponent, but for a valuable reason, he tore his ACL during the fight. Due to this, McGregor was forced to bring the fight to the ground, as it was hard to pivot from his knee to gain punching power. Once he brought Holloway down (which he did with ease) he was able to pass his guard comfortably. That fight is one which many UFC fans forget about Conor's ground game, they seem to focus on his fight with Chad, and ignore his fight with Holloway in which he overcame versatility tremendously. Finally, I won't even need to talk about McGregor's ability to fight moving backwards, because we all saw what happened when he dropped Aldo, and that speaks for itself.

When Dos Anjos pulled out of this card with a foot injury, it felt like UFC 189 was happening all over again. However, as Nate Diaz steps in to save the show, some have argued their excitement for this card has been even more hyperbolic. How many left hand shots can Diaz absorb from The Notorious one? Will McGregor be lured in by Diaz's flipping of the bird and Stockton slapping? We will all find out on March 5th in what is set up to be another historic date for the UFC.

UFC 200 - The Potentially Record-Breaking Landmark Event.

McGregor finished Aldo in just 13 seconds to become
the new 145-pound champion.

July 9th, 2016. The currently under

construction MGM-AEG Arena. International Fight Week. UFC 200 is "expected to be the biggest event in company history." So let's take a look at the fights which may take place on this potentially record breaking card. Recently crowned the new featherweight champion after knocking out Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds, Conor McGregor has had a heck of journey in the last couple of years. McGregor's coach, John Kavanagh, has just said in an interview with Ariel Helwani on the MMA hour that they hope to fight the winner of Cerrone vs. Dos Anjos 2 for the lightweight belt in March/April time, and then move back down to 145 to defend his title vs Edgar or Aldo at UFC 200 in July.  

However, although McGregor only threw a few punches in his unification fight with Aldo, he will have to undergo an x-ray on his left wrist to determine if any injury was picked up in the short fight. If the results are positive, McGregor must be cleared by a doctor and if not, there will be no contest until June the 12th. This would put ideas of Conor being a duo-weight champion straight out of the window as his planned fight in April time would not be able to take place. Regardless of that, UFC 200 is shaping well for McGregor and it would be hard to imagine that the "biggest event in company history" wouldn't feature their biggest star.

Rousey suffered her first professional MMA loss to
 Holm at UFC 193.

Now, let's move on to a potential re-match of one the biggest upsets in the history of combat sports. Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm 2. 2015 was turning out to be one hell for Rousey. Landing herself roles in several films, appearing on the covers of men's fitness magazines and most importantly dominating every woman that stepped inside the octagon with her.  

That was until UFC 193, November the 14th. In comes 18-time world boxing champion, Holly Holm. She outclassed Rousey in every department, and even took her down in the fight, something the UFC world thought they would never see. This re-match is shaping up well for UFC 200, however one problem is that Holm thinks it is "too far away" and she doesn't want to "wait that long." Also. one thing to take into account is that Rousey is starring in two movies in 2016, "Mile 22" in January and "Roadhouse 2" in March/April time. This means that Rousey will only have around seven weeks to commit to full time training before UFC 200. Is that really enough considering the drastic improvements she evidently needs to make before facing Holm again?  

What other fights would you like to see on the UFC 200 card that would make it the "biggest event in company history?"