It's easy to imagine that Dana White was fuming sitting cageside at the results of the two main event fights and what the bearing they had on the financial future of his company. When he placed the title around Miesha Tate's waist he had a look on his face like someone had just farted in his vicinity and he was trying to suppress the stench. The UFC president never wanted the fight to take place to begin with, admitting on the Jim Rome Show:
"I'll tell you this, to be brutally honest with you, as a fan, I love her attitude and I love that. As the business side, I absolutely hate it. Holly vs. Ronda is the biggest fight in UFC history, without a doubt. I think this thing does close to two million buys, and she's going in Saturday night against Miesha Tate, who A), is hungry and wants that belt so bad, and B), stylistically matches up very well to give her a tough night, so it's going to be interesting."
Tate's victory obviously puts an end to the immediate rematch between Ronda and Holly Holm, unless UFC decides to have them face each other to determine who gets the title shot first (spoiler alert: there's no way that happens). While 2 million buys is probably a bit too optimistic, White's correct in his assessment that the fight would have done gigantic numbers. Rousey/Tate 3? Not so much. But the bigger hit is what happens to Conor McGregor. Had he won, we would have likely seen him face either Rafael Dos Anjos or Robbie Lawler next and either fight would have been an opportunity for him to become the first person to hold championships in two different weight classes simultaneously. That could also have possibly lured GSP out of retirement for what would have been the biggest bout in MMA history, or perhaps even more exciting, had he beaten Nate Diaz we could have seen big brother Nick come after him seeking vengeance. Can you imagine the trash talk for that one? Instead McGregor goes back to 145 a beaten man, with the aura of invincibility that many had placed upon him shattered by a guy who came into the fight 5-5 in his last 10 and was nowhere near being in line for a title shot. If "Notorious" loses the featherweight belt to either Frankie Edgar or Jose Aldo - an even possibility - he'll become Chael Sonnen: an incredibly entertaining personality who will always be a relevant contender as long as he competes but will have lost his chance at becoming the transcendent superstar the sport longs for. The long term business ramifications of UFC 196 will be felt for a while, but from the fan's perspective it was a fun night that illustrated why we passionately follow the sport. Anything truly can happen in the world of mixed martial arts.
Brad Hamilton is a writer, musician and marketer/social media manager from Atlanta, Georgia. He's an undefeated freestyle rap battle champion, spends too little time being productive and defines himself as the literary version of Brock Lesnar.
