It has been a week full of surprises for the UFC, not least for the (now former) UFC featherweight champ Conor McGregor.
In the most hotly contested fight of 2016 so far, the brash, fighting Irishman saw his demise at the hands of America’s Nate Diaz in a brutal fight that lasted merely two rounds.
The loss was McGregor’s first career UFC defeat, after submitting to a near-naked choke from the Diaz. Never shy of a harsh word, post-fight a humbled McGregor accepted his loss.
For the fight, the current UFC poster-boy McGregor had moved up two weight classes, from featherweight to welterweight.
The first round saw a bloody Diaz take several of McGregor’s attacks head first (pun intended). The fight, however, seemed to remain in Diaz’s favour as his heavier weight proved to be too much for the Irishman.
“It is what it is. I was fighting a heavier man,” admitted McGregor.
There was another shock result in the card’s other main event as a dramatic fifth round saw Miesha Tate win the bantamweight championship from Holly Holm by choking her unconscious. This meant Holly Holm’s reign as bantamweight champion barely lasted one fight – where she prviously beat female superstar Ronda Rousey.