UFC 244: Masvidal vs. Diaz | Event Profile, Full Results & Legacy
- Dana Black
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Introduction
UFC 244: Masvidal vs. Diaz — November 2, 2019, Madison Square Garden, New York City. One of the most pure pieces of theatrical MMA of the modern era. Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz fought for a custom ‘BMF Title’ — the Baddest Motherf***er belt, a one-off championship belt created by the UFC for this specific fight — in front of a sold-out MSG crowd that treated the event like a rock concert. Masvidal won by TKO (doctor stoppage) after a cageside physician halted the fight at the end of round three due to a cut above Diaz’s left eye. The result was immediately controversial given the competitive nature of the fight, but Masvidal’s dominance over the first three rounds was not seriously disputed.
The co-main brought Darren Till and Kelvin Gastelum together at middleweight in a highly technical and entertaining five-round battle. UFC 244 belongs in the pantheon of great MSG events and closed one of the sport’s richest year-end runs. For context see UFC 243 and UFC 241.
Quick Stats
📅 Date: November 2, 2019
📍 Venue: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
📺 Broadcast: ESPN+ PPV
🏆 Main Event: Masvidal vs. Diaz — BMF Title (custom UFC championship)
✅ Result: Masvidal def. Diaz via TKO (doctor stoppage) — End of R3
🥇 BMF Champion: Jorge Masvidal — first (and only) holder of the UFC BMF Title
The Build-Up
The fight existed entirely because both men wanted it. Masvidal had just knocked out Ben Askren in five seconds at UFC 239 and was in the middle of the most commercially explosive stretch of his career. Diaz had beaten Anthony Pettis at UFC 241 and called Masvidal out post-fight. Their social media animosity was genuine — two Californians from different corners of the MMA world who had been sniping at each other publicly for months. Dana White created the BMF belt as a prop to formalise what the fans already believed this fight was: a contest for the most entertaining, dangerous man in the sport.
Main Event — Masvidal vs. Diaz
Jorge Masvidal vs. Nate Diaz — BMF Title
The MSG crowd was unlike anything the UFC had produced at the arena before. Diaz’s entrance brought the building to a roar; Masvidal’s was equally loud. From the opening bell, the fight delivered. Masvidal’s striking was crisp and he controlled the range in round one, landing his right hand repeatedly and making Diaz’s forward pressure uncomfortable. Diaz landed some clean shots in return — his durability and chin, as always, absorbing volume that would have stopped other men — but Masvidal was clearly ahead.
Rounds two and three were more competitive. Diaz found his boxing timing and landed cleaner shots as the fight progressed, including a sequence in round three that energised his section of the crowd. But a cut opened above Diaz’s left eye from an elbow in round three, and at the end of the round the cageside physician examined it and ruled the fight stopped. Masvidal was declared the winner by TKO (doctor stoppage). Rock legend Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson was ringside and presented the custom BMF belt to Masvidal in what became one of the most photographed moments of the year in combat sports.
Diaz was frustrated with the stoppage and made clear in the immediate aftermath that he believed he could have continued. The controversy was understandable but the competitive reality of the fight — Masvidal winning three rounds — was not in serious dispute. The fight cemented both men as the sport’s most commercially compelling non-champion fighters.
Co-Main Event — Till vs. Gastelum
Darren Till vs. Kelvin Gastelum — Middleweight
A high-level MW contest between two fighters with elite striking credentials. Till’s long-range boxing was precise and he used his reach advantage to make Gastelum’s aggressive forward pressure awkward for stretches of the fight. Gastelum had his moments of success with the counter right hand and his low kicks, but Till’s output and movement over five rounds earned him the split decision. For Gastelum, who had been a MW title contender throughout 2019, the loss kept him from the title picture. For Till, the MSG win validated his move to middleweight from welterweight.
Full Results
Main Card
Masvidal def. Diaz — TKO (doctor stoppage) | End of R3 | BMF Title (Masvidal 1st holder)
Till def. Gastelum — Split Decision | R5 | MW
Kevin Holland def. Brendan Allen — TKO | R3 | MW
Vicente Luque def. Mike Perry — TKO | R3 | WW
Covington def. Usman — Wait — see note below — Covington vs. Usman was at UFC 245
Derrick Lewis def. Ilir Latifi — KO | R1 | HW
Preliminary Card
Merab Dvalishvili def. Gustavo Lopez — TKO | R3 | BW
Nick Diaz (in corner) — Nate’s most famous ringside appearance of the year
Bonuses & Awards
🏅 Performance of the Night ($50,000 each): Derrick Lewis for his R1 KO of Latifi; Vicente Luque for his R3 TKO of Perry.
🏅 Fight of the Night ($50,000 each): Masvidal and Diaz for the BMF title main event.
Records & Milestones
Masvidal became the first and only holder of the UFC BMF Title. The fight generated one of the highest-grossing PPV buyrates of the ESPN+ era to that point. Kevin Holland’s TKO win began one of the most remarkable 2020 winning streaks in MW history. Derrick Lewis’s R1 KO of Latifi extended his reputation as the UFC’s most prolific HW knockout artist. The MSG atmosphere — one of the most electric in UFC history — was widely cited in post-event coverage.
Legacy & Impact
UFC 244 is remembered as one of the sport’s great spectacle events — an MSG night that combined genuine combat quality with the theatrical excitement the venue always produces at its best. The BMF belt was a marketing gimmick, but it worked because the two men fighting for it were genuinely the sport’s most entertaining non-champion fighters. Masvidal’s 2019 run — from the 5-second KO at UFC 239 through the BMF night at MSG — was one of the most commercially successful single-year trajectories any non-champion had ever produced. The Rock presenting the belt to Masvidal is among the sport’s most shared images of 2019. UFC 244 closes the autumn 2019 run ahead of the year-end stacked card at UFC 245.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the UFC BMF Title?
A one-off custom championship belt created by Dana White and the UFC specifically for the Masvidal vs. Diaz fight at UFC 244. BMF stands for ‘Baddest Motherf***er’. Masvidal won it and is its sole official holder. The belt was not a recognised divisional title.
How did Masvidal vs. Diaz end at UFC 244?
Masvidal vs. Diaz ended by TKO (doctor stoppage) after the cageside physician halted the fight at the end of round three due to a cut above Diaz’s left eye. Diaz contested the stoppage but Masvidal was winning the fight on all scorecards at the time of the stoppage.
Who presented the BMF belt to Masvidal at UFC 244?
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, who was cageside at MSG for the event. The moment was widely photographed and became one of the most shared images from any 2019 UFC event.
Who won the UFC 244 post-fight bonuses?
FOTN: Masvidal and Diaz ($50k each). POTN: Derrick Lewis ($50k, R1 KO of Latifi); Vicente Luque ($50k, R3 TKO of Perry).
References
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