UFC Headlines: UFC 244 at Madison Square Garden Gets a Main Event

Diaz and Masvidal to headline MSG in November

UFC 244 has its main event set. Top welterweights Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal will headline the November 2 card taking place at Madison Square Garden. It is suspected that the winner of this bout will be named as the next challenger for the UFC welterweight title.

Nate Diaz, 34, fought for the first time in three years last month at UFC 241. Diaz was put up against Anthony Pettis and came out victorious via unanimous decision. After the bout, Diaz called out Jorge Masvidal when asked about who he’d like to face off against next. Diaz has a professional mixed martial arts record of 20-11.

Masvidal, also 34, has been riding high lately, coming off of back-to-back knockouts and back-to-back performance of the night bonuses. Masvidal knocked out Darren Till back on March 16 and more recently earned the fastest knockout in UFC history when he hit Ben Askren with a flying knee in only five seconds at UFC 239 in July. He has a professional record of 34-13.

UFC 244 takes place Saturday, November 2 and will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York. The main card will go live at 10PM EST and can be viewed on UFC Fight Pass and pay-per-view. Stay tuned for a full breakdown of the event coming soon.

”Wonderboy” to face Luque at UFC 244

Now that UFC 244 has its main event, the rest of the main card has started to fill out. One fight recently announced is the welterweight bout between Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and Vicente Luque. This welterweight fight is expected to kick off the main card of the show.

Stephen Thompson, 36, has remained positive about his fighting future despite suffering back-to-back losses for the first time in his professional career and going 1-3 in his last four fights. Thompson lost a unanimous decision victory to Darrent Till on May 27. More recently he fought Anthony Pettis in what was Pettis’ welterweight debut. Pettis stunned the world when he knocked out Thompson in the second round. Thompson’s last win was on November 17 in 2017 when he defeated Jorge Masvidal. “Wonderboy” has a record of 14-4-1

Vicente Luque, 27, is coming off of a split-decision victory over Mike Perry. The two battled it out on August 10, earning them fight of the night honors. The fight is remembered for the disturbing broken nose that Luque left Perry with. “The Silent Assassin” has won ten of his last eleven fights – nine of win were won by stoppage. His last loss came against Leon Edwards back in 2017. He has a fighting record of 17-6-1.

The main card of UFC 244 is now as follows:

• Nate Diaz vs Jorge Masvidal – Welterweight division
• Kelvin Gastelum vs Darren Till – Middleweight division
• Derrick Lewis vs Blagoy Ivanov – Heavyweight division
• Corey Anderson vs Johnny Walker – Light heavyweight division
• Stephen Thompson vs Vicente Luque – Welterweight division

”Jacare” moves up to light heavyweight

After suffering a unanimous decision loss in his last bout and consistently trading wins and losses, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza will make his light heavyweight debut after 16 years of competing as a middleweight. He is set to be the main event against Jan Blachowicz at UFC Fight Night on November 16.

As mentioned earlier, “Jacare”, 39, lost his last bout via unanimous decision. He fought Jack Hermansson on April 27. He is 3-3 in his last six fights, beating top contenders such as Chris Weidman and Derek Brunson but also suffering losses to the likes of Kelvin Gastelum and current champion Robert Whittaker. He is 26-7 with one no-contest.

Jan Blachowicz, 36, seems to be a wake up call to all fighters looking to make the move to the light heavyweight division. Souza will be the second man to move up from middleweight to face Blachowicz as the Polish fighter last fought Luke Rockhold in what was Rockhold’s first appearance at 205-pounds at UFC 239 in August. Blachowicz earned a performance of the night bonus when he knocked out Rockhold in the second round. Blachowicz has a professional record of 24-8.

UFC Fight Night: Souza vs Blachowicz takes place on Saturday, November 16 and will take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil. At the time of writing, no other bouts have been announced for this event.

Volkov/dos Santos to headline UFC Moscow card

UFC Fight Night live from Moscow, Russia on November 9 now has a headliner. Alexander Volkov will battle Junior dos Santos in the main event of the November card.

Volkov, 30, hasn’t fought since losing by knockout to Derrick Lewis back in October of 2018 at UFC 229. Prior to the loss, Volkov had been on a six-fight winning streak that included wins over fighters such as Stefan Struve, Roy Nelson, and former heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum. Volkov has a professional record of 30-7 and is currently the number-six ranked heavyweight in the UFC.

Junior dos Santos, 35, is similarly coming off of a loss that snapped a winning streak. After winning three in a row against the likes of Derrick Lewis and Blagoy Ivanov, dos Santos suffered a TKO loss to heavyweight beast Francis Ngannou on June 29. “Cigano” is the number-three ranked heavyweight in the UFC and a former champion. He has a professional fighting record of 21-6.

UFC 242 Results

Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Dustin Poirier via submission (Round 3)

Paul Felder def. Edson Barboza via split-decision

Islam Makhachev def. Davi Ramos via unanimous decision

Curtis Blaydes def. Shamil Abdurakhimov via TKO (Round 2)

Carlos Diego Ferreira def. Mairbek Taisumov via unanimous decision