FOX Sports 1 analyst and former middleweight Brian Stann breaks down the two main events of Saturday’s UFC 196 (Holly Holm vs. Miesha Tate and Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz) with The Post’s Justin Terranova.
Q: There was so much attention paid to Ronda Rousey’s defeat, but what is Holly Holm’s potential?
A: You saw the peak of her potential against Rousey because of her age (34) … I was in the gym with her when she first started dabbling in the MMA scene, and she was just a natural athlete and so tenacious that she was able to win grappling scrambles on sheer willpower alone. Now, her potential as a star is sky high. She has incredible character, and Holly has been an incredible ambassador since that win.
Q: Are people overlooking Tate?
A: Yes, and she’s the type of woman you can’t overlook. If you look at a lot of her fights she takes a beating in the early going and then comes back to dish some out. She never quits. With her new trainer Robert Fallis, she is now punching with power. Miesha never had that weapon before, she was primarily a brawler, who tried to dominate in grappling. Now her right hand is a weapon that’s hurting people … And I think that is her best chance to win this fight.
Q: Will Rousey come back distracted or motivated?
A: From an athletic standpoint this is her lowest point and that will drive her to get better and fight better than she did that night. And let’s face it, her star began with MMA, not with acting, and I think she needs to fight to build up her other avenues of stardom and revenue streams.
Q: Can Nate Diaz — filling in for injured Rafael dos Anjos — shock Conor McGregor?
A: This is still a fight that a lot of the hardcore fans wanted to see. Nate (and his brother Nick) almost has a cult following cause of their attitude to say what they feel at all times without mincing words. Nate is a master at getting great fighters to ditch their own plan and fight his. I don’t think McGregor is susceptible to that, but this is the first guy that he has ever faced that has the potential to turn the crowd against him. It’ll be interesting to see how he handles that.
Q: What’s next for McGregor if he wins this fight?
A: It’ll be dos Anjos if he’s healthy and could be ready for the time that Conor is ready to fight again. But Conor is going to be in the driver’s seat if he wins this fight. Everyone wants a piece of him: some of them don’t like him, some of them think they can beat him and they all know they can make the most money with him.
