The 3 stars of ‘UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz' in Las Vegas

The UFC plans to stage at least 40 events in 2016, and during that time, hundreds of fighters will enter and exit the octagon.

While pre-fight hype is an enjoyable aspect of the sport, it’s ultimately the in-cage performances that speak most to fans. For the majority of fighters, the opportunity to present their skills to the world only comes along a few times per year.

A total of 24 fighters got the chance on Saturday as part of UFC 196 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena. Now that UFC 196 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

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Third Star: Nordine Taleb

The main and co-main event outcomes were the primary talking points after UFC 196, but the forgotten undercard performance of the event went to Nordine Taleb (12-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who put Erick Silva (18-7 MMA, 6-6 UFC) to sleep in the second round of their welterweight bout with a perfect counterpunch.

Silva was once touted as a future contender at 170 pounds. He’s experienced a decline in recent years, though, and that led him to the matchup with Taleb. The Canadian was the betting underdog, but it certainly didn’t play out that way.

After picking their shots for more than a round, Silva attempted a hard body kick early in the second frame. Taleb caught the strike, fired back with a massive left hand and Silva went crashing to the canvas for the highlight-reel knockout.

Second Star: Miesha Tate

Miesha Tate (18-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC) said defeating Holly Holm (10-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) for the women’s bantamweight title was her destiny. Apparently she was right, but there’s no way she would have predicted getting the job in the second-to-late minute of the fight.

Tate forced the 135-pound belt to change hands with just 90 seconds remaining in the fifth round when she applied a rear-naked choke on Holm that put “The Preacher’s Daughter” completely to sleep.

Aside from a huge second round where she nearly ended the fight in a similar way to the finish, Tate spend most of the championship bout on the outside trying to figure out Holm’s striking game. Just when it looked like she was about to fall behind for good, “Cupcake” delivered the most memorable moment of her fighting life.

It takes just one perfectly timed movement to gain an advantage, especially when you’re a fighter like Tate. She showed great resiliency and pounced on Holm to win UFC gold in exhilarating fashion.

First Star: Nate Diaz

An 11-day preparation period to fight a UFC champion was clearly enough for Nate Diaz (19-10 MMA, 14-8 UFC). He upset Conor McGregor (19-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) by second-round submission in their non-title welterweight bout for the biggest victory of his career.

McGregor, the UFC featherweight champ, was originally meant to challenge 155-pound titleholder Rafael dos Anjos, but the fight fell apart and Diaz stepped in on short notice for a welterweight showdown.

The choice to accept the bout will go down as the wisest Diaz has ever made because he managed to hurt and submit “The Notorious” in somewhat unexpected fashion.

Not only did Diaz pick up his signature at McGregor’s expense, but he further cemented his place in UFC history when he set a new modern-era record for submission wins (eight) and record for most fight-night bonuses (14) in company history.

For complete coverage of UFC 196, check out the UFC Events section of the site.