UFC 244 is set to take the MMA world by storm, with the event going down on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. UFC 244 will serve as one of the rare PPV events without an "official" title on the line, but there will be a belt at stake in the main event. Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal will do battle in the final bout of the night for the "BMF" championship, which is enough to get any fan hyped for this event.
UFC was originally targeting a welterweight championship fight between 170-pound champ Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington for the main event, but when negotiations broke down, fans were rewarded with Masvidal vs. Diaz instead. Diaz called out Masvidal for the "baddest motherf---er title" after successfully returning to the cage by defeating Anthony Pettis at UFC 241 in August.
Then, just a week before the event, the hopes of seeing this fight were flipped on its head when Diaz posted a cryptic message on social media saying he would not fight in New York after USADA notified him of an adverse finding in one of his test samples. An advocate for clean fighting, Diaz said he refused to fight until his name was cleared of any wrongdoing. Two days later, USADA and UFC did just that.
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The BMF title may be on the line in the main event, but the entire fight card is loaded from top to bottom with premier MMA title. Former interim title challenger Kelvin Gastelum is back in action when he faces off with Darren Till in a middleweight co-main event. It will be Till's first bout at 185 pounds with UFC. Plus, welterweights Stephen Thompson and Vicente Luque meet and heavyweights Derrick Lewis and Blagoy Ivanov will do battle.
Below is your complete guide the UFC 244 PPV event. Note: This page will be updated constantly throughout the week, be sure to check back in for new information and content through Saturday night.
UFC 244 viewing information
Date: Saturday, Nov. 2 | Time: 10 p.m. ET (main card)
Location: Madison Square Garden -- New York
Live stream: ESPN+
UFC 244 fight card, odds
| Fight |
|---|
Jorge Masvidal -175 vs. Nate Diaz +145 -- Welterweight |
Kelvin Gastelum -230 vs. Darren Till +180 -- Middleweight |
Stephen Thompson -130 vs. Vicente Luque +100 -- Welterweight |
| Blagoy Ivanov -130 vs. Derrick Lewis +100 -- Heavyweight |
| Gregor Gillespie -175 vs. Kevin Lee +145 -- Lightweight |
| Johnny Walker -150 vs. Corey Anderson +120 -- Light heavyweight |
| Shane Burgos -260 vs. Makwan Amirkhani +210 -- Featherweight |
| Jair Rozenstruik -150 vs. Andrei Arlovski +120 -- Heavyweight |
Katlyn Chookagian -160 vs. Jennifer Maia +130 -- Women's flyweight |
| Edmen Shahbazyan -125 vs. Brad Tavares -105 -- Middleweight |
| Lyman Good -135 vs. Chance Rencountre +105 -- Welterweight |
| Hakeen Dawodu -135 vs. Julio Arce +105 -- Featherweight |
UFC 244 countdown
- Expert picks and predictions
- Complete breakdown of each bout on the card
- How to watch, live stream everything in NYC
- The Rock to hand out 'BMF' belt to winner
- President Trump expected to attend
- UFC unveils its 'BMF' belt ahead of fight
- Complete, updated UFC pay-per-view schedule
UFC 244 features
- Five storylines to watch for in New York
- Top five pound-for-pound BMFs in UFC