The main event of UFC 244 mostly lived up to expectations. With the BMF title on the line and with The Rock and Donald Trump in attendance, Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz went to war with the eyes of the entire sports world on them both. But a close fight on paper turned into a blowout in the cage, as Masvidal picked apart Diaz, dominating him for the first three rounds of their main event fight.
This was a five-round fight though, and Diaz with his incredible cardio usually comes on strong later in his fights. Unfortunately for Diaz and all the fans cheering for him, he was robbed of an opportunity to come back and win when the cageside doctor stopped the fight after the third round due to cuts above Diaz’s eye. Diaz immediately protested, but the fight had already been stopped.
Masvidal wasn’t happy about the stoppage either, and told Diaz he would give him a rematch. UFC President Dana White also insinuated an immediate rematch was likely to happen. But after the event, after cooler heads prevailed, White changed his tune. Instead of saying that Diaz would get a rematch, White said he changed his mind and said he actually agreed with the stoppage.
More likely than not, there will be no rematch. Masvidal will move on to bigger and better things — presumably a welterweight title shot — while Diaz will need to take some time off and heal up his eye. While the way the fight ended was not ideal, the fact is Masvidal absolutely dominated Diaz for the three rounds they were in the cage. Diaz was going to need a finish if he wanted to win the fight.
Considering Masvidal has only been knocked out once in his entire MMA career and submitted only twice, the likelihood of a comeback was very slim. In reality, the doctor likely saved Diaz from taking more unnecessary punishment. The way the fight ended was of course not the way fans would have wanted it to end; no one wants the doctor to intervene and stop a fight when the fighter wants to continue. But from a physician’s point of view, it was likely the right call.
A rematch down the road between Masvidal and Diaz makes a lot of sense, but not an immediate one. Masvidal deserves a title shot after stopping Darren Till, Ben Askren, and Diaz in his last three fights. Diaz, meanwhile, can continue to fight in big fights. A trilogy matchup against Conor McGregor could make sense. But honestly, he just doesn’t deserve an immediate rematch with Masvidal.
The UFC has not officially decided anything, and perhaps once the pay-per-view numbers come in, White will change his tune again and will want to book a rematch. But based on how the fight went, Jorge Masvidal should be moving on to a title shot next, not a rematch against a guy he was soundly beating. The way the fight ended was regrettable. But an immediate rematch for Nate Diaz is not super necessary.
• Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal: Jorge Masvidal def. Nate Diaz via technical knockout (Doctor’s stoppage) at 5:00 of Round 3.
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 UFC 244: Masvidal vs. Diaz took place November 2, 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York.
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