Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal to headline UFC 244 in New York

The unofficial title of “baddest mother(expletive)” in the UFC will soon be settled.

A massive non-title welterweight fight will headline UFC 244, when Nate Diaz takes on Jorge Masvidal in what is sure to be a highly anticipated showdown of two veterans of the sport.

MMA Junkie confirmed the matchup between Diaz (20-11 MMA, 15-9 UFC) and Masvidal (34-13 MMA, 11-6 UFC) with UFC officials after Dana White announced the booking to ESPN.

UFC 244 takes place Nov. 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.

Diaz called for the fight against Masvidal after an impressive performance to defeat Anthony Pettis via unanimous decision at UFC 241. Masvidal said he was down, riding the momentum of back-to-back devastating knockouts of Darren Till and Ben Askren this year. The latter, which came in a record-breaking 5 seconds at UFC 239 in July, has made Masvidal more popular than he’s ever been.

The possibility of Diaz vs. Masvidal was put in jeopardy in recent days as the welterweight title picture grew murky because of reported negotiation trouble to book champion Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington. As a result, Masvidal was in consideration for a title shot with Usman, but a fight with Diaz won out.

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BOOOOOM!!!! @natediaz209 vs @gamebredfighter #MSG

A post shared by Dana White (@danawhite) on Sep 7, 2019 at 6:45am PDT

Diaz, whose fight with Pettis co-headlined UFC 241, cemented his status as one of the UFC’s biggest stars by stealing the show during that event’s fight week last month. He busted out a joint and smoked it with fans at open workouts. Then his performance on fight night had a record crowd at Honda Center in Anaheim, California, chanting his name like never before.

Afterward, White admitted Diaz was, in fact, a “needle mover” on the level of Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor in terms of his drawing power.

According to the report from ESPN.com, the UFC intends to make a “Baddest Mother(expletive)” belt for the winner of Diaz vs. Masvidal.

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