[READ ARTICLE IN THE WASHINGTON POST]
It’s over. The Irish king has been dethroned.
Heavy favorite Conor McGregor beat Nate Diaz’s face into an unrecognizable pulp as the first round bled into the second, at some points even smiling and taunting Diaz for the lopsided victory that appeared to be coming.
But with just under a minute remaining in that second round, McGregor went in for a takedown, and his underdog American opponent countered with an improbable takedown of his own.
Diaz, his bloodied, hunched-over body rendering the gruesome scene like something straight out of “Pulp Fiction,” rained punches on the fallen Dublin native and bounced off the floor with a UFC upset few saw coming. The 30-year-old Stockton, Calif., native, a last-minute fill-in for Rafael dos Anjos, injured two weeks ago, was suddenly the toast of MMA. Continue reading UFC 196: Nate Diaz upsets Conor McGregor; Miesha Tate chokes out Holly Holm →