At UFC 241, after Nate Diaz made a successful return to the octagon by defeating Anthony Pettis following a three-year hiatus, Stockton’s Finest called out Jorge Masvidal, saying he wanted to take on the other “baddest motherf*cker” in the game. It was a fight the fans immediately gravitated to. Then this past weekend, the UFC officially announced that Nate Diaz would take on Jorge Masvidal in the main event of UFC 244, and the two would be competing for Diaz’s “BMF” belt, and everyone, including UFC commentator Joe Rogan, was very excited to hear the news.

“When I saw it on my Instagram feed this morning I threw my arms up like somebody got knocked out. ‘Yes!’” Rogan said during his UFC 242 Fight Companion podcast this weekend.

Despite the fact that all the fans and both fighters wanted the fight, there was a moment when it looked like the fight may not happen though. The UFC was originally looking to have welterweight champion Kamaru Usman headline UFC 244 with a title defense against Colby Covington, but those negotiations were not going well and a number of reports began circulating that Masvidal would be granted the title shot instead. The UFC still couldn’t get a deal done though and instead turned to Diaz-Masvidal to main event the fight, despite the UFC’s reluctance to headline PPV’s with non-title fights and Dana White’s previous contentions that Nate Diaz was not part of the UFC’s planning because of his mercurial personality. But with the fight now booked, Rogan says that was all just a negotiation tactic by White.

“It’s worth money,” Rogan said. “I had said that I think Nate Diaz is one of the biggest superstars in the game, right up there with everybody. I guess there was some negotiations or something because Dana White refuted it. He goes, ‘Well I don’t think Nate Diaz is in our long term plans. Nate fights once every three years.’ I’m like, don’t say that. [But] I’m sure [it was part of the negotiation] and to let Nate know that look, we’ve got other plans. There’s other sh*t that we’re doing.”

If it was negotiation, the tactics worked and now fans are in for one of the most anticipated bouts of the year. And while everyone knows all about what Nate Diaz brings to the table, Rogan says people may be underestimating Jorge Masvidal.

“That guy’s so good. He’s so good and he’s so clever,” Rogan said. “That’s one of the best things to say about Masvidal. The thing is people don’t necessarily associate him with knockout power for some reason, but the guy knocked out Yves Edwards with a head kick, he knocked out Darren Till, Donald Cerrone, he knocked out Ben Askren and put him into another dimension with a flying knee, world-record fastest knockout. It’s weird that people don’t associate Masvidal with a knockout artist. He doesn’t necessarily have the most power, but he’s so good.”

But while Rogan is excited for Diaz-Masvidal, the UFC commentator also mentioned that he does hope the UFC can figure it out between Usman and Covington because that’s the title fight he wants to see.

“I’m just excited. But I want Usman vs. Colby. That’s the fight to make.”

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MUST-READ STORIES

Gangsta. Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal to headline UFC 244 for ‘BMF belt’.

Bellator 226. Bader vs. Kongo ends in no-contest after accidental eye poke.

Eagle. Khabib Nurmagomedov: ‘I deserve’ to be ranked as the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.

Haunting. Dustin Poirier reflects on questions in UFC 242 loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov that will ‘haunt’ him.

The set up. Dana White: Tony Ferguson next but if he turns down fight, Khabib vs. Conor McGregor 2 makes sense.

Appeal. Edson Barboza’s team will appeal UFC 242 loss to Paul Felder.

Shade. Ryan Bader claims Cheick Kongo ‘took easy way out,’ open to fighting ‘Rampage’ after confrontation.

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VIDEO STEW

UFC 242 Post Show.

UFC 242 Retrospective.

Anatomy of a Fighter.

Presser highlights.

Bellator 226 highlights.

LFA 75 highlights

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LISTEN UP

6th Round. Immediate post-fight reaction to UFC 242.

Severe MMA. Discussing UFC 242, Cage Warriors, and Nate vs. Jorge.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Respect.

Poirier still a great dude.

Conor.

MTB.

LOL.

Love it.

Teammates.

Harsh words.

Shevchenko shutting down Weili.

Ngannou wants to fight before the end of the year.

Petr Yan picking on an old man.

Mike Perry got married.

Waiting for the mixtape to drop.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Joe Lauzon (27-15) vs. Jonathan Pearce (9-3); UFC on ESPN 6, Oct. 18.

Nate Diaz (20-11) vs. Jorge Masvidal (34-13); UFC 244, Nov. 2.

Junior dos Santos (21-6) vs. Alexander Volkov (30-7); UFC Moscow, Nov. 9.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

We all know that when Dana says “If Tony accepts the fight” he really means “I’m gonna offer this dude $20 and a ham sandwich and if he even hesitates, I’m calling Conor” right? Because that’s what’s gonna happen.

Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow.

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EXIT POLL

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