Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal set for Nov. 2 at Madison Square Garden.
Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal headlining UFC 244.
After a week of uncertainty, the UFC has a main event for UFC 244, and it is nor for a title. Well not an official title.
In an interview with ESPN, UFC president Dana White announced that Nate Diaz will face Jorge Masvidal in the main event of UFC 244, at Madison Square Garden, on Nov. 2.
According to White, the fight will be a five-round main event, and no other title fights will be booked for the card.
Over the past decade, the UFC has generally avoided headlining pay-per-view events with non-title bouts. Two notable exceptions include Diaz’s two fight against Conor McGregor.
Throughout the past week, the UFC attempted to book several different welterweight title fight to headline UFC 244, according to ESPN.
Initially, the UFC was set to book welterweight champion Kamaru Usman against presumptive top contender Colby Covington.
However, they were unable to reach an agreement.
The UFC then attempted to book Masvidal against Usman, but the UFC and Usman were unable to work out a deal. The UFC then pivoted to an interim title fight between Masvidal and Leon Edwards, but talks stalled.
Ultimately, a fight between Diaz and Edwards will likely be a bigger box office draw than any of the other fights the UFC attempted to book.
Both Diaz and Masvidal are coming off of major victories over the Summer.
Masvidal scored a record breaking KO over Ben Askren at UFC 239 in July. After the fight, Masvidal became a popular target for post-fight callouts.
Meanwhile, in August Diaz fought for the first time since 2016, defeating Anthony Pettis via unanimous decision at UFC 241.
After the fight Diaz called out Masvidal, immediately sparking interest in a fight between the two.
Although, Diaz made it clear that he would not fight for the welterweight title but for the, “baddest motherf-ing title”
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