Nate Diaz defeated Conor McGregor in unbelievable fashion at UFC 196 on Saturday night, forcing the featherweight champ to submit with a rear-naked choke in the second round.
You can watch video of the finish above.
As many were expecting, it was a thoroughly entertaining fight from the get-go. The pair of brawlers wailed on each other for the first round-and-a-half, with McGregor landing many of the biggest early blows and turning Diaz into a bloody mess.
#TheNotorious returns the favor!!! #UFC196 t.co/MeL2jsUZjM
But the underdog showed his toughness. About mid-way through the second round, Diaz landed a flurry of his own punches that stunned “The Notrious.” The fight eventually moved the ground, where Diaz stunned McGregor with a couple more punches, turned him around, and locked him into the rear-naked choke, forcing the featherweight champion to tap out for his first career UFC loss.
Considering the circumstances of the this fight–short notice, fought at 170 pounds–it will be interesting to see what this means for each fighter moving forward.
McGregor’s time at welterweight is obviously done for now, but where do he and Diaz stand among the lightweight division? McGregor was in line for a title shot before Rafael Dos Anjos’ injury, but Diaz certainly made a definitive statement with his victory on Saturday night.
Those are question for the future, though. For now, Diaz can celebrate the biggest win of his career.
Read more about the shocking conclusion to this fight in Spanish at AhoraMismo.com:
