UFC 196 on Saturday event "brought about one of the most entertaining cards in recent memory," and it also "represented a shift at the top of the UFC’s roster of celebrity stars" after upset losses by Conor McGregor and Holly Holm, according to Martin Rogers of USA TODAY. Nate Diaz and Miesha Tate, who defeated McGregor and Holm, respectively, have now worked their way "into a lofty place." Holm and Ronda Rousey are "far more famous" than Tate, but she "holds the title and the keys" to the immediate future of the women's bantamweight division. More than anything, UFC 196 will be "remembered as the time the UFC saw two of its biggest names cut down" (USA TODAY, 3/7). YAHOO SPORTS' Dan Wetzel wrote UFC 196 ended up as a "carnage of commerce" after a "pair of the sport’s biggest and most bankable stars" suffered stunning upsets. Suddenly a year of "easy-to-make mega-fights became more complicated, from the uncertainty" of a Holm-Rousey rematch to McGregor "headlining July’s historic UFC 200." The UFC "crapped out Saturday night in Vegas," as the in-ring results were "nothing the bottom line wanted" despite an $8.1M gate. The promotion was "on the verge of what would likely have been its biggest year ever," and while it may still get there, it "just isn’t simple." McGregor, who fought at 170 pounds against Diaz, said that he will "now return to 145 pounds and defend his title." Wetzel: "It’ll still be big. It could’ve been bigger." This is the business of "having a money train like McGregor take on an outrageous challenge and risk his perfect UFC record, risk his aura of invincibility, risk the vision of him sprawled out on his back in the middle of the cage, overcome with exhaustion and emotion." It "wasn't holding Holly Holm back, even if the greatest payday yet loomed." White: "Tonight was one of those nights, this is what this thing was built to be. It was everything we talked about it was supposed to be. It was awesome" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/6).
OUT OF WHACK: USA TODAY's Rogers wrote UFC 196 "should go down as a wildly successful night for the organization, but it will also create some problems moving forward." The UFC is "seeing its biggest celebrities fall like bowling pins." After Rousey lost to Holm in November, a pair of "rising stars with model good looks -- Paige Van Zant and Sage Northcutt -- then fell by the wayside." Undefeated middleweight champ Chris Weidman "lost his crown in December." However, this weekend "felled the biggest fish of them all" in McGregor. The UFC "prides itself on making the biggest and best fights possible and with UFC 200, touted as the grandest occasion in company history on the horizon, wants to line up a series of blockbusters." Yet the "more the giants fall, the less availability there is to make monumental match-ups with historic importance" (USATODAY.com, 3/6). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Jason Gay writes Saturday night "throws the UFC into more than a little bit of chaos." Had Holm won, it "would have preserved a very lucrative rematch with Rousey." That fight will "still probably happen, with a little less oomph." Now Rousey "has the additional hassle of going through Tate, whom she's beaten twice before." Meanwhile, McGregor, the "biggest of the big mouths, is quiet" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/7). In Las Vegas, Case Keefer wrote the UFC schedule would have "filled out much more easily and lucratively if McGregor and Holm had lived up to their billings as big favorites" (LAS VEGAS SUN, 3/6).
LOSING FOCUS: The GLOBE & MAIL's Cathal Kelly writes the results of UFC 196 are a "slow-moving disaster four months in the making." The promotion "had two great hopes to move them north of the drunken goofball aspect of their fan base," and both competitors are "now irretrievably diminished." Rousey and McGregor "had all the bona fides but one -- just as everyone started to pay attention, they mistook their contrived marketing hooks for their actual jobs." Both "can be big deals again, but never as big as they might have been" (GLOBE & MAIL, 3/7).
