Jordan Griffit
Sports Media
What a crazy few weeks, it has been in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). There are now multiple weight classes that hang in suspense after UFC 205 with many close fights and potential rematches down the road. Let’s start with some history that was made last week by the ‘notorious’ Conor McGregor. McGregor went into the fight with a bit of uncertainty because of his previous two fights with fellow smack-talker Nate Diaz. Diaz beat McGregor the first time that they faced off via rear naked choke.
They then rematched in that same year and McGregor ‘won’ that fight via majority decision, but I think anyone in their right mind saw that Diaz won that second fight as well. Diaz had more strikes and had more positive moments ,but McGregor won basically based off of the first round alone where he knocked him down three times. He wasw the ‘winner’ either way, and he was awarded a title shot at the lightweight division (155 lbs.).
He had to get through Eddie Alvarez to do so in order to be the first UFC fighter of all time to hold belts in two different weight classes at the same time and he did so with ease. Alvarez didn’t have a chance in the octagon with McGregor. McGregor had the reach advantage and used it seamlessly as he would take one step back and throw that famous straight left hand to put him on the canvas. Then, early in the second round, he made history by defeating him via TKO to become a two division champ. In his post fight speech, he said, “I’d like to take this chance to apologize, to absolutely nobody” as only McGregor would do. He had made history as well as moving himself into the second ranking for pound for pound rankings in the world.
In other news around the UFC, keep an eye out for a possible Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson rematch in the future as their fight ended in a majority draw with Woodley winning on the scorecard.
I’ve never seen a majority decision before and believe that Thompson won that fight, but at least deserves a rematch for another slugfest just like the last one. The Middleweight division is now starting to become more clear as more and more contenders are setting themselves as legitimate. Both Yoel Romero and Gegard Mousasi have won their last fights. The next fight for the middleweight belt should be Romero vs. Bisping, so stay tuned for that news. I would give the edge to Romero early on in the fight, but, if the fight ends up going past the third round, it’s all Michael Bisping.
