A defeat no-one saw coming.
Nate Diaz shocked the MMA world by defeating Conor McGregor in the c0-main event at UFC 196 in Las Vegas.
The welterweight, who was down on the judges score for the first round, forced McGregor to submit in the second round with a rear naked choke.
From media outlets in the United States, to Britain, Brazil and Canada, the reaction is, as you’d expect, shock.
The Washington Post’s Jeff Wagenheim wrote:
“How do you upstage Conor McGregor?”
“It seems impossible, in light of all the attention the brashly talkative Irish mixed martial artist has brought upon himself. But it happened twice on Saturday night in Las Vegas.”
“First Miesha Tate did it with a gritty performance that won her the UFC women’s bantamweight championship, dethroning Holly Holm…
“Then Nate Diaz trumped Tate in the UFC 196 main event, withstanding the best that McGregor could dish out in the first round before taking over in the second and choking him out at 4:20 of the session. Diaz’s victory ended McGregor’s 15-fight winning streak.”
For the Daily Telegraph, Gareth A. Davis wrote:
“UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor has been forced to reconsider his ambitions in higher weight divisions after being submitted in a defeat at welterweight against American Nate Diaz.
McGregor had attacked the American verbally in the build-up but was unable to deliver on his promise of stopping the Californian fighter.”
“Finally, ‘Mystic Mac’ was proved wrong.”
For Brazilian website Combate, Raphael Marinho and Evelyn Rodrigues focused on how McGregor’s defeat put a serious dent in the UFC’s plans for the Dubliner:
“The party was to be Irish. The crowd was mostly in favor of Conor McGregor. The show was ready for the champion featherweight increase his fame and his unbeaten record within the organization…”
“But the American did not flinch… he dominated the back and fit a rear-naked choke to 4m12s, frustrating the UFC plans, that he intended to put Conor to compete for the title of welterweight future.”
Damon Martin wrote for Fox Sports:
“With McGregor completely flattened out on the mat, Diaz gave him no chance to escape as he sunk the choke even deeper and a second later the Irishman was tapping the forearm to signify the fight was officially over.”
“It was a shocking finish considering Diaz took the fight on less than two weeks’ notice, and he put on an incredible performance as McGregor’s 15-fight winning streak came to a devastating end. The finish came at 4:12 in the second round.”
And, for Canadian website The Score, Alexander K. Lee wrote:
“A deadly submission fighter, Diaz welcomed the grappling, and soon McGregor found himself on the wrong end of a full mount. Diaz blasted McGregor with hard hands from that dominant position until McGregor was forced to turn over and away from the punches.”
“Diaz slipped his arm right under McGregor’s chin, and, after a few seconds, he handed “Notorious” his first loss in the UFC.”
