Report via ESPN -- One of the biggest mixed martial arts fights of 2019 is set.
Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal will happen at UFC 244 on Nov. 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York, UFC president Dana White told ESPN's Brett Okamoto on Saturday. The welterweight fight will headline the event.
"It is the fight fans wanted to see," White told Okamoto. "Nate Diaz called out Masvidal after his win over [Anthony] Pettis. Everybody has been talking about it. People have been hitting me up on social media, telling me to get it done. I can now announce the fight is done."
It will not be a title fight, White told Okamoto, which is atypical for a main event.
"It's one of those fights that is fun, interesting, fans are into it, you want to see for five rounds -- yet it's too big to be a fight night," White told Okamoto. "So we made it a pay-per-view. I will end up stacking this card with killer fights. The main event will be those two."
The UFC will not book a title fight to MSG because, in White's words,"I would never put a title fight underneath this. There won't be a title fight [at MSG]."
The booking comes after a frenetic week of negotiations between the UFC and multiple fighters, sources say.
Late last week, the UFC tried to book UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington for the MSG headliner. After failing to come to terms with Covington on a deal, the UFC moved on and offered the title fight to Masvidal, according to sources. After coming to terms with Masvidal on Wednesday, the promotion was unable to strike a deal with Usman. That prompted the UFC to reach out to top contender Leon Edwards to see if he would be interested in fighting Masvidal for the vacant title after a threat was made to strip Usman.
Read the fully story over at ESPN.
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