Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White has shared his thoughts on the result of the UFC 244 headlining fight.
Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz locked horns in the main event of the said fight card as they fought for the ‘one-and-done’ ‘baddest motherf***er’ title.
In front of a sold-out crowd at the Madison Square Garden, the welterweight pair treated MMA fans to an entertaining fight that lasted for three rounds.
Masvidal dropped Diaz in each of the first two rounds before getting the stoppage win in the third as the Stockton slugger sustained a nasty cut above his eye.
With the win, ‘Gamebred’ extended his hot streak to three fights including brutal knockouts of Darren Till and Ben Askren to inch closer to the next title shot.
Meanwhile, it was Diaz’s first loss since making his MMA return last August.
The result, though, drew flak from some MMA fans as they believed Diaz could have still continued to fight.
Right Call
Amid the criticisms on the outcome of the UFC 244 main event bout, the UFC president insisted the doctor made the right decision to called off the fight.
White compared Diaz’s injury to what Tyson Fury sustained in his 12-round boxing showdown against Otto Wallin in September.
“At first I was bitching and pissed off. They didn’t stop the Tyson Fury fight, and that cut was nasty,” he told the media, per MMA Fighting.
But after seeing the cut on Diaz’s eye up close, the promotion chief was convinced that the stoppage was the right call to make.
“Then I walked back and saw Nate Diaz. His eyebrow was flipped over.”
“He had another huge gash under his eye and I started thinking, ‘it’s easy sitting in my chair thinking the fight shouldn’t be stopped.’ The reason we love him, he’s so tough and durable and everything else.”
“But these things happen, and [the cuts] didn’t look good.”
No Rematch
White also dismissed a potential rematch between the welterweight stars despite a sold-out crowd in New York.
”No, it doesn’t interest me right away,” he said.
“I got asked a couple questions tonight – Diaz comes on in the later rounds, if they didn’t stop it, what would have happened?”
“But it didn’t. It got stopped with cuts, and Masvidal looked very dominant.”
As for Masvidal’s next UFC outing, the UFC president hinted that the streaking fighter is poise to earn the next title shot.
”I think he’s got some big options coming his way.”
Next month, reigning welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, will defend his throne against Masvidal’s former friend, Colby Covington in the final UFC pay-per-view event of the year.
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“We’re running it back. We’ll run this back.” – 🌴 @GamebredFighter #UFC244
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Jorge Masvidal, Dana White, and Nate Diaz)