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UFC 279 : Nate Diaz defeats Tony Ferguson, rides into the sunset…For now..
UFC 279 featured all the major drama that it could, particularly including some of the promotion's most polarizing characters in Nate Diaz, Tony Ferguson, Kevin Holland and Khamzat Chimaev. Before the fights even took place, a backstage brawl between the fighters teams resulted in a canceled press conference and the new golden goose of the UFC, Khamzat Chimaev, missed weight by 7.5 lbs resulting in a shake up Saturday's main card. The new main card would have Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson facing Nate Diaz, Khamzat Chimaev facing Kevin Holland and Li Jingliang facing Daniel Rodriguez.
For Nate Diaz fans all around the world, the original fight with Khamzat Chimaev felt like an execution by UFC President Dana White. Leading up to Saturday night’s fight, there was no question about the tensions between Diaz and White over the years regarding their long and drawn out contract dispute. In the end Diaz’s final fight on his UFC contract would be against another unorthodox personality who has had his own scrap of words against White in Tony Ferguson. For five rounds UFC fans would now be able to enjoy watching these two veterans with a combined win total of 48 in the same octagon.
Although the fight as a whole was not worthy of fight of the year, both Diaz and Ferguson brought their signature styles. Ferguson seemed to be the fighter with more movement between his punches early on, however Diaz was able to outlast the brunt of his opponent’s attacks and in the later rounds seemed to have more in the tank. Ferguson caused quite a lot of damage with his leg kicks against Diaz, seeming to limp for most of the fight. However, the turning point in the fight came when Diaz was able to check a kick and it opened a gruesome cut on Ferguson’s leg. From that point on, Ferguson’s movement slowed and he seemed unable to put pressure on it. In the fourth round Ferguson went for a takedown and Diaz went for his bread and butter guillotine choke for the submission win. Both fighters were respectful towards each other after the fight. If this is the last fight for Diaz in the UFC, the lightweight has bowed out on top as one of the most memorable fighters ever for the promotion. He has said if he does return, he would like to settle the score with Connor McGregor for a third time. As for Ferguson, He suffered his 5th straight loss. However, post-fight, Ferguson was visibly positive that he will continue to fight past 38 years old. With a new team, Ferguson could look to regroup from his fall to #15 on the lightweight rankings and possibly face either Connor McGregor (#11) or even Dan Hooker (#14).
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