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Dana White gives his take on the controversial doctor stoppage of the UFC 244 headliner, as well as a possible immediate rematch between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz.
UFC 244’s headliner fight between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz ended anti-climactically. After a three-round war, the cageside doctor stepped in to stop the fight after seeing the cuts on the right side of Diaz’s face.
Dana White always vocalizes his opinions about controversial endings, especially if he disagrees with it. But for tonight’s stoppage, the UFC president is in agreement.
“These things happen,” White told reporters during the post-fight scrum. “At first, I was b-tching and pissed off and I said, ‘They didn’t stop the Tyson Fury fight. And that cut was nasty and whatever.’
“Then I walked back and I saw Nate Diaz and his eyebrow was literally flipped over in front of his eye, and he had another huge gash under his eye, and I started thinking, ‘It’s easy sitting over there in my chair thinking the fight shouldn’t be stopped.’
“And the reason we love Diaz so much is because he’s so tough and durable and everything else,” he continued. “But these things happen and it didn’t look good.”
During their respective Octagon interviews with Joe Rogan, both Masvidal and Diaz want an immediate rematch. White, however, seems to have other plans for “Gamebred.”
“No, (a rematch) doesn’t interest me right away,” he said. “I got asked a couple of questions tonight, ‘(What if) Diaz comes on the later rounds, if this fight had gone later, they didn’t stop it, what would happen?’ But it didn’t. It got stopped with cuts and Masvidal looked very dominant. He looked good, he’s looked good all year. He’s had nothing but great fights all year.
“If anybody’s the Fighter of 2019, it’s definitely that kid,” he added. “And I think he’s got some big options coming his way.”
Masvidal is now on a three-fight streak. The newly-crowned “baddest motherf—r” titleholder holds a record of 35-13 (with 18 wins by stoppage).