It's 244 retard
https://www.espn.com.au/mma/ufc/story/_/id/27538140/diaz-masvidal-headline-ufc-244-nov-2
Reported by Ariel
One of the biggest MMA fights of 2019 is set.
Nate Diaz vs.
Jorge Masvidal will happen at UFC 244 on Nov. 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York, Dana White told ESPN's Brett Okamoto on Saturday. The welterweight fight will headline the event.
"Five rounds of Diaz vs. Masvidal at Madison Square Garden," White told Okamoto, noting it is not a title fight.
The booking comes after a frenetic week of negotiations between the UFC and multiple fighters, sources say.
Late last week, the UFC tried to book UFC welterweight champion
Kamaru Usman vs.
Colby Covington for the MSG headliner. After failing to come to terms with Covington on a deal, the UFC moved on and offered the title fight to Masvidal, according to sources. After coming to terms with Masvidal on Wednesday, the promotion was unable to strike a deal with Usman. That prompted the UFC to reach out to top contender
Leon Edwards to see if he would be interested in fighting Masvidal for the vacant title after a threat was made to strip Usman.
The talks with Edwards didn't progress because in the midst of all this an opportunity presented itself to book Diaz vs. Masvidal as the MSG headliner, sources say. Once it was clear there was mutual interests between all parties to make that fight happen, the UFC focused all its attention over the past day or so to book that fight. They were able to finalize it Friday afternoon, ESPN has learned.
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The fight is one between two of the most popular fighters in the sport today. Diaz (20-11) looked dominant in his return from a three-year layoff last month when he defeated
Anthony Pettis via unanimous decision. His rivalry with
Conor McGregor in 2016 transformed him into one of the biggest draws in MMA history.
Masvidal (34-13) has had a phenomenal year in his own right, as he knocked out
Darren Till in March and followed that up with a five-second knockout of
Ben Askren in July. The latter is the quickest knockout in UFC history.
Following Diaz's win at UFC 241, he said he wanted Masvidal next.
He got his wish.
It's unclear at this time when the UFC will try re-book Usman and whether they will reengage with Covington to make that title fight happen. The promotion has one more pay-per-view left in 2019 after UFC 244, and that's UFC 245 on Dec. 14 in Las Vegas.
The event at Madison Square Garden will mark the UFC's fourth trip to the arena since 2016.
