Many fight fans were ticked off that the Nate Diaz-Jorge Masvidal main event at UFC 244 at Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday night was stopped after the third round due to a doctor’s decision. Many, including Diaz, believed the fighter could continue, but the cageside doctor decided otherwise.
UFC boss Dana White said on ESPN after the fight that while he originally was upset with the stoppage, he later changed his mind after seeing what Diaz looked like in the locker room.
“Cuts that big are always a problem. When it first got stopped, I was like ‘you guys didn’t stop the Tyson Fury fight.’ But then as I went back and talked with Nate Diaz and looked at Nate Diaz’s face, the guy’s eyebrow was like this (White motions his finger in front of his eyeball), and he had another cut right underneath it. Fight probably should have been stopped. Could Nate Diaz keep going? Yes, that’s why we love Nate Diaz. But it probably should have been (stopped),” White said.
Nate Diaz wants more #UFC244 | @espnmma pic.twitter.com/h953NnWSLC
— ESPN (@espn) November 3, 2019
The reaction from fans generally is heated at first — for understandable reasons. They wanted to see a full fight and felt they got robbed. But when you consider that they’re protecting the fighter, the responsible call was made. Plus, both Masvidal and Diaz seem like they want a rematch anyway, where hopefully there won’t be a stoppage.
