We’ve purchased the ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) and with it our dynamic tag team duo, Matt Ryan and Brendan Sokler, will deliver the best possible ‘radio style’ play-by-play broadcast imaginable throughout UFC 263’s main card, starting at 10 p.m. ET in the video player below!
“The Kings” on Showtime is a four-part documentary about the four kings of boxing in the 1980s: Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns, “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler and, of course, Sugar Ray Leonard.
And it got me to thinking of who would be those four kings of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). And then it got me thinking about Nate Diaz …
Unlike in boxing, Diaz cannot pick and choose who he fights for astronomical purses. Instead, he has to engage in protracted battles with Dana White and Co. to ensure that he fights and that he gets PAID. And for a guy who has not won a fight in nearly three years — and hasn’t been on a solid win streak since the Obama Administration — it’s weird for him to have that level of clout, to where he can just say, “F—k you, I’m going to sell CBD and legal weed while you starve for buys!”
Outside of Conor McGregor and maybe Jon Jones, there is not someone on the roster right now who can do that, and Diaz is the co-co-main event, in an unprecedented five-round Welterweight fight against Leon Edwards
Edwards is the opposite of Diaz. He wants to fight all the time and is denied from fighting the guys he should be fighting (e.g. Jorge Masvidal, Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington … and what’s left of his jaw). But, he is often denied and then unranked because of “inactivity.”
Why is it that Edwards was denied the chance to do what Diaz has done for so long? It’s because Diaz choked out McGregor. He did what no one else could do in a time where “The Notorious” was the baddest human walking the planet (if not the baddest, at very least, the loudest).
Now, is tonight a situation where Edwards — through virtue of stopping or knocking out Diaz — earns that same ability? Let’s just say it worked for Masvidal … for a hot minute.
Nevertheless, join us tonight as Brendan Sokler, Shakiel Mahjouri, Dan A. White, Stephanie Sottile and I watch these fights live and figure it out!
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 263 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 263: “Adesanya vs. Vettori 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.