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 Orlando Review: Rafael Dos Anjos makes light work of Donald Cerrone to defend his belt for the first time ever.

Although he was not in attendance, Conor McGregor was the name on most people's mind at UFC Orlando.

Dos Anjos finished Cerrone in just 66 seconds to defend his belt.

There were many accusations directed towards Rafael Dos Anjos leading up to his title fight against Donald Cerrone on Saturday, but too him, they acted as motivators as he was determined to shut his critics up. Cerrone, who is often labelled as a slow starter in fights, came out apprehensive as expected. Dos Anjos landed a vicious hard knee to the liver of Cerrone, which was ultimately the beginning of the end for "Cowboy." After landing a body kick which hurt Cerrone badly, Dos Anjos showed no mercy by landing a barrage of brutal punches on the injured Cerrone, who impressively stayed on his feet and circled back into the centre of the octagon. However, Dos Anjos did not think twice about letting the dazed Cerrone recover. An attempted takedown from Cerrone allowed "RDA" to take his back, and from there he hammered away at his head and although "Cowboy" was attempting to defend himself, it was clearly not enough and Herb Dean stopped the fight.

Another win for RDA means that his unbeaten streak is now extended to five and his first title defence has proven to many doubters that he is a force to be reckoned with. A perfectly executed game plan to pressure the slow starting Cerrone straight from the off was the key to his victory. So, what's next for Dos Anjos and Cerrone? Well, Dos Anjos was just one of several fighters at UFC Orlando to call out the recently crowned featherweight champion, Conor McGregor, in his octagon interview. McGregor, who is extremely keen on moving up to 155 and becoming a duo-weight champion, has caught the eye of many fighters in the lightweight division, including RDA. "This is my division" claimed Dos Anjos, also stating he would fight McGregor "In Brazil, in Ireland, or wherever he wants." For Cerrone, a potential fight with rising star Tony Ferguson is one that is looking very promising. 

Overeem landing a hard left body kick.

Junior Dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem was a fight that should have happened three and a half years ago, but for many endless reasons, it didn't. However, it finally did last Saturday night and it was somewhat of an anti-climax of what everyone expected. Two of the most entertaining heavyweights in the whole sport were finally going to face off, and the stage was set for a compelling match-up. However, a dull start from both fighters, with very few strikes thrown lead to quite a boring first round. Considering the knockout power of both men though, it was quite to hard too blame them for both being hesitant. The second round was more lively though, with Overeem landing a lot of kicks, and with JDS not really throwing anything, it looked like Overeem was about to secure himself another round. Eventually Dos Santos did find an opening and pinned Overeem up against the fence after landing some good punches, but "The Demolition Man" calmly circled back to the centre. Just a few moments later, Overeem unleashed a picture perfect left hook which sent JDS to the canvas and allowed Overeem to follow up with some ground and pound to finish the fight.

A somewhat "boring" first round was the key to Overeem's win, as his patience in this round allowed him to read Dos Santos, and to never let him close the distance. It was a smart game plan once again from Team Jacksonwink, and it lead Overeem to gain his fortieth professional MMA win. This was Overeem's last fight on his UFC contract, which now means he is taking the road that Benson Henderson took in becoming a free agent to play the market. It will be interesting to see where Overeem goes from here, as a win over a top contender like JDS means he could certainly be in line for a title shot, or a number one contender's fight. For Dos Santos, he has never quite looked the same after his most recent to Velasquez, so it will be interesting to see who and when his next fight is against, and to see if he can bounce back from this poor performance.

UFC on FOX 17 Preview: Dos Anjos vs. Cerrone 2

It was the night of August the 28th, 2013 when Rafael Dos Anjos cruised to a unanimous decision victory of Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone. The two will meet again tomorrow night but this time, the lightweight belt will be on the line as Cerrone seeks revenge whilst Dos Anjos looks to defend his belt for this time.

Dos Anjos embracing his title win at UFC 185.

Cerrone, has already fought three times this year, two of those being in the space of fifteen days all the way back in January. Successful in all three, Cerrone looks to make that four as he enters his first UFC title fight ever. For Dos Anjos, only once has he stepped inside the octagon this year, nine months ago back in March when he dominated the former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis for five rounds to secure UFC gold. Often overshadowed by the Jon Jones incident which occurred a few weeks later, many people have forgotten about Dos Anjos' flawless performance that night against a man who had previously only lost once in the UFC before. It has been a great year for Dos Anjos's training camp, Kings MMA, who not only have a new champion in Rafael, but also a new champion in heavyweight Fabricio Werdum, who defeated Cain Velasquez at UFC 188 in Mexico City to secure the second lot of UFC gold for Kings. 

It's not been a bad year for Cerrone's camp either. Training at Jacksonwink MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico, they have had great success through recently new UFC women's bantamweight champion Holly Holm, who took gold back to Albuquerque last month when she put an end to Ronda Rousey's reign in magnificent fashion. Cerrone will be looking to top off an excellent year for Jacksonwink, and take home his first ever piece of MMA gold in the process.

Finally, JDS and Overeem will fight on Saturday.

Another man who will be looking to put the icing on the cake for Jacksonwink is experienced kickboxer Alistair Overeem, who finally faces Junior Dos Santos in the co-main event of the evening on Saturday. The two heavyweights where originally planned to fight three and a half years ago, at UFC 146 for the heavyweight belt.  However, Overeem failed his pre-fight drug test due to his testosterone levels proving to be too high. Frank Mir who stepped in to replace Overeem in the main event, and it was Dos Santos who would go on to win by knockout in the second round and defend his belt in the process. The two were then planned to meet at UFC 160, in a heavyweight bout which determine the #1 contender as Dos Santos had by then lost his belt to Cain Velasquez back at UFC 155. Once again the fight did not take place, but luckily for Overeem, the reason was different this time. A leg injury meant that he had to pull out, so Mark Hunt filled in for him. The same outcome as UFC 146, Overeem's replacement was knocked out by Dos Santos, however it was a picture perfect spinning hook kick which sealed this time. And now, we are here. Finally, this highly anticipated match-up which was supposed to occur years ago, will take place tomorrow to most likely determine who will be next in line for a heavyweight title shot.