NEW YORK — If the Baddest Motherf--ker Belt gave you bad feelings in advance of UFC 244, take this opportunity to cleanse yourself.
If Saturday's violent-yet-abbreviated main event between Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal for the BMF title—the only trophy in major sports history to contain (language NSFW) a major curse word—felt like a bad time and a stain on the honor of MMA, reconsider your affinity in favor of one keeping with the gravity of your worldview.
Just kidding. This whole BMF thing was unquestionably a science experiment. But for people who like their sports outside the box, New York's Madison Square Garden was the only place to be Saturday.
I've been lucky enough to be in the house for a few UFC events over the years, in MSG and elsewhere. The building usually crackles for even the humblest of cards. But the voltage from this crowd for Diaz and Masvidal was off the meter even by the raucous standards of mixed martial arts.
Cold water rained down when Masvidal's hand was raised following an anticlimactic doctor's stoppage TKO following the third round, thanks to a cut Masvidal opened over Diaz's eye in the first. The cut didn't look like the fight-ending sort, as far as big-fight cuts go. But Masvidal put on a master class and was on pace to win anyway.
It was fun while it lasted, and we are now queued for a certain rematch.
"Let's run it back," Masvidal told broadcaster Joe Rogan in the cage immediately after the fight.
Befitting the occasion, the first round began on a playful note when Masvidal faked the same flying knee that earned him a record-breaking knockout of Ben Askren. A punch-kick knockdown of Diaz tore open the fateful gash over his right eye and was the most significant offense of the round.
Diaz came out swinging in the second, but Masvidal again did more damage with one-two combinations and a huge right hand that wobbled the California native. The clinch, usually a safe harbor for Diaz, offered no respite. A ground exchange at the end of the round led to an ankle lock attempt from Diaz, but Masvidal escaped as time expired.
Diaz connected with combinations of his own in the third, but Masvidal was always there to answer, grinning away any damage as soon as Diaz could inflict it. Diaz never went away, but the doctor took the decision out of his hands.
Diaz wasn't happy about it. Masvidal wasn't happy about it. The fans weren't happy about it, as the boos and chants of "bulls--t" rained down, but the outcome was the outcome.
It was an anticlimactic ending, but it shouldn't and doesn't overshadow what was a fun and entertaining main event—and not only that, but a fun and entertaining concept.
"Don't be booing me," a frustrated Masvidal said after the fight. "I'm not the f--king doctor."
"Yeah, it sucked," an even more frustrated Diaz told Rogan a moment later. "I didn't think they were gonna stop it. It was just getting started. ... I wasn't even going to start pushing until Round 4."
"Without a doubt, run it back," Diaz said.
Rogan then offered an unsolicited suggestion of Las Vegas as the possible setting of such a rematch. Given the interest around the match, a rematch seems like a virtual lock no matter where it happens.
And despite the ending, that interest—the sense of the thrill that Diaz and Masvidal provided—is the real story here.
It's a bit of unintentional self-commentary that this title—which, no matter how you feel about it, meets the exact definition of a contrivance—garnered as much as or more interest than any normative UFC championship in recent memory. And it's just as much of a testament to UFC brass that they leaned into the occasion, following the lead of Diaz, Masvidal and the fans, creating the physical strap and openly marketing the bout's BMF-ness. It was fun to see happen—unique in sports, actually—and the fight itself followed through to the hilt.
Diaz (20-11 entering the fight) was the established star between these two. Originally a cuter sidekick to older brother Nick, Nate came into his own 2016 after submitting Conor McGregor at UFC 196 on less than two weeks' notice.
"I'm not surprised, motherf--kers," Diaz famously intoned after pulling the upset on McGregor, who was undefeated in seven prior UFC contests and his last 15 overall. (McGregor returned the favor five months later to even the series.)
The bloom is off the McGregor rose, at least for the moment. His loss a year ago to Khabib Nurmagomedov, a series of run-ins with the law and a protracted spate of wolf-crying over his UFC return have dampened audience enthusiasm. That could change in a Dublin minute (if Dublin minutes are fast), but in the meantime, Diaz has shown solid staying power independent of what he did to McGregor.
Masvidal (34-13 entering Saturday) first fought as a pro in 2003, one scant decade after UFC 1. It's almost impossible not to root for Masvidal, who learned how to fight in backyard brawls on the bad side of Miami. But his early career was stymied by self-inflicted wounds, namely a tendency to play to the level of his competition and take his foot off the gas at critical moments. He was also on the wrong side of one of the great highlights in MMA history, Toby Imada's unreal inverted triangle choke.
Through it all, Masvidal was talented, tough and quotable enough to earn bigger and better chances, which culminated in his victory Saturday.
Like Diaz, Masvidal has an underlying likability despite his status as a cool customer. He keeps his nose clean, plays the game and appears to value his fans and the career his hard work and talent have provided.
Those two sides of the coin—badassery and likability—are the ingredients of a true BMF.
In that way, there were no losers Saturday night. Both men will certainly have more chances from here.
As the rematch takes shape, the worst thing anyone could do is try to recreate this lightning in a bottle. McGregor has already (semi-seriously) thrown his hat in the ring for a "coolest motherf--ker" belt. How about a Damn Hard Worker belt? Or a Little Asskicker belt for the smaller weight classes? How about a This Man Don't Take S--t title? They don't have the same ring, do they?
No, let's stop it here. Please. Let a great thing just exist. This will never be approximated and no one should try.
Then again, the UFC has done plenty more for plenty less, and almost everyone follows the money at the end of the day. Here's hoping, though.
In the meantime, even though the ending wasn't fun, Diaz and Masvidal made MMA fun again. They're two natural fighters and two talented guys who are more approachable than their exteriors might suggest. They are the fighters MMA fans need.
Continuing this story, even under these circumstances, should be more than welcome.
Scott Harris is a feature writer for Bleacher Report.
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November 03, 2019 at 12:31PM
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Despite Strange Stoppage, BMFs Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz Make MMA Fun Again - Bleacher Report
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