On Saturday November 2nd, the UFC held their biggest event of 2019 at Madison Square Garden. The hype surrounding UFC 244 was huge. The expectations for the night were as high as the Empire State Building. There were 11 total fights on the night. But the biggest of them all was the main event between Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal.

Masvidal dominated Diaz in the three rounds it lasted, before a cut over Diaz’s right eye caused a doctor stop the fight. Perhaps the biggest and most anticipated fight of the year, the UFC unveiled a brand new belt called the “Baddest M-F” belt and partnered with The Rock to don it around the winner.

Diaz and Masvidal have reputations of being some of the toughest and scrappiest guys in the game. This fight and this new belt was meant to determine who is the baddest in the game. On Saturday, we got our answer.

The Main Event

The fight went three of the five rounds and Masvidal dominated all rounds. Diaz was cut up by his right eye early in the first round.

Coming into the fight, both fighters were matched up pretty evenly. Diaz showed that he is a true warrior as he took a beating from Masvidal.

With 3 wins in 2019, Masvidal is quickly rising to the top of the fight game, and is now a champion.

It is unclear as to who and when Masvidal fights next, but whoever it is, will attract  big expectations. As for Diaz, he may not fight again. He has not fought many times in the past couple of years.

A rematch between the two is a possibility, and the fans would surely want to see them fight each other again, but we’re going to have to wait and see.

The rest of the main card lived up to the hype.

The co-main event between Darren Till and Kelvin Gastelum didn’t exactly live up to the hype, but it still was a great scrap between two title Contenders.

Till won by decision, keeping the pressure on Gastelum the whole fight. Till was able to score a couple of takedowns, and didn’t face any adversity during the fight. It was a huge win for Till as he was coming off two straight losses, and he now rejuvenated his career.

Kevin Lee knocked out the undefeated Gregor Gilespee with a brutal head kick. It is certainly a knockout of the year contender and Lee is now back on track towards a title run.

Derrick Lewis defeated Blagoy Ivanov by decision in a razor close fight. Both fighters were throwing bombs at each other, but they each held up and fought it out in a fight of the night contender.

The last fight of the main card was between Stephen Thompson and Vincente Luque. Thompson looked like his old self and won by decision. Luque was coming off multiple great performances, but couldn’t get it done against Thompson.

The Prelims had some great fights as well including; Johnny Walker, who was red hot until he got knocked out by Corey Anderson. Walker had been riding a win streak like no other. Anderson was a man on a mission and made quick work of Walker knocking him out in the first.

Number one contender and New Jersey native Kaitlyn Chookagian defeated Jennifer Maia by decision. Chookagian is now next in line for a title shot against champion Valentina Schevchenko.

Overall UFC 244 was one for the ages and it lived up to the hype surrounding it. In the World’s Most Famous Arena, fights fans weren’t disappointed. Celebrities were all over watching the UFC’s biggest card of the year. This event should go down as one of the biggest events to happen at MSG, but also in UFC history.