UFC 196 will go down as one of the most memorable pay-per-views of all time. This is mainly due to two fighters featured in the main and co-main event—the men's featherweight and the women’s bantamweight champions, Conor McGregor and Holly Holm. However, both lost in dramatic fashion, exposing their weaknesses to millions.
McGregor’s brash personality, gift for gab, and knockout of the former featherweight champion in Jose Aldo elevated the stock of UFC 196. The Irishman also moved up two weight classes to face Nate Diaz at 170 pounds after his original opponent, lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, became injured just two weeks before last Saturday night’s pay-per-view event.
Regarding Holm, she was attempting to ride the momentum of her second-round knockout over former women’s bantamweight champion and mixed martial arts icon Ronda Rousey. The world was in shock after the 34-year-old dominated and kicked the former champion into unconsciousness, causing the oddmakers to bet on her replicating that success against Miesha Tate last Saturday.
However, leading up to UFC 196, the ground games of McGregor and Holm were called into question.
For the former, in his second-before-last fight, he was easily taken down and held there for the majority of the first round. He apparently had no answer for the NCAA Division I All-American wrestler in Chad Mendes. The 27-year-old was brutalized on the ground, and questions began to loom regarding McGregor’s weak ground game, as he was unable to return to his feet and employed no Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills at all.
Nevertheless, he survived the second round and subsequently knocked out his opponent, who was a last-minute replacement for an injured Aldo.
At UFC 196, McGregor’s luck faded, as he faced Diaz, a superb boxer and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. After a highly intense first round in which bombs were thrown, the Irishman appeared to have won the first five minutes. However, in the second round, McGregor attempted to secure a telegraphed takedown and was choked out for his troubles.
The same issues that McGregor experienced against Mendes were on display and exploited to the highest level by Diaz who ended the bout early in the second round. The Irishman’s ground game has not improved since entering the UFC. He has primarily fought strikers, leading to his formerly undefeated record in the UFC.
At the same time, when faced with someone who was extremely proficient on the ground, McGregor faltered, damaging his “God-like” image in the process. Former featherweight champion Aldo criticized McGregor for his performance at UFC 196 on his Facebook page.
“Instead of running up to a different weight division and talking [expletive] about me, you could make your time valuable and go to a real gym to learn real jiu-jitsu. I’ll be ready for you at UFC 200, so we can leave no doubt.”
Before the Rousey fight, Holm sported a 100% takedown defense rate in the UFC. At UFC 193, Holm was briefly taken down, but she defended well, demonstrated superior striking in comparison to that of her opponent, and took Rousey’s belt in the process. Given that, the MMA world hadn’t seen much of Holm’s ground game…until UFC 196.
Tate represents the epitome of the expression, “a jack of all trades.” She isn’t highly skilled at any particular aspect of MMA. However, she is durable, has a heart that won’t quit, and is decent enough at many aspects of MMA to pose a problem for any foe. In fact, the latter has led to her current two-year undefeated streak.
Holm fought a calculated fight against Tate and edged her out in the striking department, winning rounds one, three, and four on all scorecards.
However, once Tate grabbed a hold of Holm in the second round, it became quite clear that, like McGregor, she significantly lacked almost any semblance of a ground game. She could not find her way back to a vertical position, suffered some major ground and pound, and almost lost to a rear-naked choke when the round ended and Tate was forced to let go.
In the fifth round, Tate was able drag Holm down again. Similar to the second, it appeared that Holm was ignorant regarding the fundamentals of defending against basic grappling. This led to her undoing and subsequent loss via rear-naked choke that left her unconscious.
After the bout, according to ABC News, Holm panned her own grappling skills during the fight and acknowledged her own mistakes in that area.
"It wasn't the right move to shake her (Tate) off my back. It was stupid, and I should have fought it off more. When you're up against a wrestler like that, of course that threat is there for a takedown, and you have to recognize it."
If McGregor and Holm wish to continue to succeed in the UFC at the highest level, both may wish to elevate their takedown defense, their wrestling, and/or their Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills. However, a high level of the latter skills takes years to master, and time will tell if both fighters make the necessary adjustments to remain atop their respective divisions for years to come.
