Nate Diaz

Jorge Masvidal officially earned himself the title of the baddest in the UFC with a third-round TKO win over Nate Diaz via doctor's stoppage in the main event of UFC 244 in Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

Because of a large cut on Diaz's right eye, the cageside doctor called an end to the action.

Diaz attempted to establish himself as the aggressor early on, but it was quickly met with return fire from Masvidal. After a brief time of clinching Masvidal floored his opponent with a flurry that included an elbow and a head kick. 

The combo not only knocked down Diaz, but more importantly opened the gash on his head that would eventually be his undoing. 

The Miami-native continued to find success in the clinch and close range exchanges throughout the round as he took the early lead. 

That trend would continue in the second frame. Masvidal once again floored his West Coast counterpart with a clean right hand. While refusing to engage with his opponent on the ground Diaz he did open up the arsenal, scoring with body kicks and combinations to widen his lead. 

As that lead widened so too did the cut over Diaz's eye. As the doctor stepped in to examine it between the third and fourth rounds the doctor deemed the fighter unfit to continue. 

Diaz was upset as he believed that he was still in the fight and was hoping to turn up the heat in the championship rounds:

ESPN Stats & Info noted the rarity of a fight being stopped by the doctor on a pay-per-view card:

The 34-year-old welterweight just keeps racking up the high-profile wins, and his remarkable surge to stardom continues with a victory over Diaz. The win is Masvidal's 18th fight with the UFC, yet he is just now becoming a household name within the sport.

Last time out, Masvidal set the record for the fastest knockout in UFC history when he finished Ben Askren in five seconds.

The next step for Gamebred is interesting. Obviously, with his stock as high as it has ever been, one might surmise that he'll challenge Kamaru Usman for a legitimate UFC championship. But that's not exactly who the Floridian has in mind next.

"Conor's the same. He's a fighter," Masvidal told reporters of a potential fight with Conor McGregor. "He might not be the toughest guy, but he's a hell of a fighter, and he brings in millions of dollars, so of course I'm going to fight that guy over all these other bums. It's a no-brainer, man. But is he fighting? I don't know."

ESPN's Ariel Helwani has reported that the Irishman is interested in a bout with Masvidal sometime in 2020 after his reported return in January.

A fight between Masvidal and McGregor would certainly sell. The two have both established a reputation for putting on exciting bouts. Who knows, the UFC's promotional BMF belt might just be put on the line again, and Masvidal might once again have a chance to cement his legacy as one of the most dangerous fighters to do it.

The Madison Square Garden crowd at UFC 244 got its money's worth before the main event ever got underway on Saturday night.

Ahead of the Nate Diaz-Jorge Masvidal fight, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson made a grand entrance as he brought out the BMF belt (NSFW language) to a vibrant crowd:

The Rock presented the belt to Masvidal after his win, via ESPN MMA:

According to TMZ Sports, the BMF belt—which has the words "Baddest Motherf--ker" engraved—cost approximately $50,000 to make.

Fights like the main event of UFC 244 between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz are the lifeblood of mixed martial arts. 

It doesn't get more simple. Two men motivated by the opportunity to prove their toughness looking to do damage and put on a display of beautiful violence. 

There's no title on the line, other than the one the UFC made up specifically for the fight. There's little to no concern about "wolf tickets." Just two guys who have a track record of delivering the goods. 

They'll fight for a one-time-only "BMF" championship belt in what is expected to be at least Fight of the Night if not the year. The result is a card that fans won't want to miss. 

UFC 244 Fight Card

Main Card (ESPN+ PPV at 10 p.m. ET)

• 170 lbs.: Jorge Masvidal (-175; Bet $175 to win $100) vs. Nate Diaz (+145)
• 185 lbs.: Kelvin Gastelum (-200) vs. Darren Till (+170)
• 170 lbs.: Vicente Luque (-105) vs. Stephen Thompson (-125)
• 265 lbs.: Blagoy Ivanov (-125) vs. Derrick Lewis (-105)
• 155 lbs.: Kevin Lee (+130) vs. Gregor Gillespie (-160)

UFC 244 ESPN 2 Prelims (8 p.m. ET)

• 205 lbs.: Corey Anderson (+130) vs. Johnny Walker (-160)
• 145 lbs.: Makwan Amirkhani (+200) vs. Shane Burgos (-250)
• 185 lbs.: Edmen Shahbazyan (-130) vs. Brad Tavares (+100)
• 265 lbs.: Andrei Arlovski (+120) vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (-150)

UFC 244 ESPN+ Prelims (6:30 p.m. ET)

• 135 lbs.: Katlyn Chookagian (-160) vs. Jennifer Maia (+130)
• 170 lbs.: Lyman Good (-130) vs. Chance Rencountre (+100)
• 145 lbs.: Julio Arce (+110) vs. Hakeem Dawodu (-140)

Odds via Caesars.

Biggest Questions Heading into the Night

Who is the Baddest?

The draw to the main event between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz is plain to see. Both have delivered exciting fights throughout their careers. Diaz has largely been absent from the sport since his two fights with Conor McGregor, and in his stead, Masvidal has taken over as the streetwise, aggressive brawler who isn't afraid to speak his mind. 

Now Diaz is making a rare appearance to establish himself as the "BMF" in the UFC. 

It's a fascinating quarrel as it pits Diaz's tenacity, volume and cardio against Masvidal's creativity, power and grit. 

Neither man has been afraid to take risks and lose a fight doing so. They have a combined 20 losses in their careers, and both will be willing to go out on their shield in this one. 

Diaz and Masvidal have skills on the ground, but it would be shocking if this wasn't an all-out slugfest. In the early rounds, that favors Masvidal's power. If and when it goes to the championship rounds, that's where Diaz could make hay as his cardio gives him the edge over most opponents. 

Prediction: Masvidal via third-round TKO

Will Darren Till Fare Better at Middleweight?

It wasn't too long ago that an undefeated Darren Till was challenging Tyron Woodley for the welterweight championship. 

Things haven't panned out for him since. T-Wood submitted the Briton in the second round, and then Till lost another welterweight bout to Masvidal in devastating fashion with a TKO in Round 2. 

It's been a quick fall from glory, and he's hoping that a change in scenery will reverse his fortune. Till—who missed weight twice as a welterweight—will try his hand at middleweight and will see a man who lost his own title shot recently in Kelvin Gastelum. 

Till was always a big welterweight, so it will be interesting to see how he adjusts to the middleweight division. The 5'9", 28-year-old Gastelum is a former welterweight himself, though, so he is, literally, not the biggest challenge Till could have faced. 

However, he will challenge him in plenty of other ways. He's proven a capable striker despite his stocky frame and has excellent wrestling. 

His well-rounded game makes him a tricky out for anyone and a difficult challenge for Till to see where he stands in his new division. 

Prediction: Gastelum via decision

Just How Good is Vicente Luque?

Till was once the next big thing in the welterweight division, and Vicente Luque is now trying to reach that status. The 27-year-old just keeps on turning in impressive performances and will see a well-deserved step up in competition against Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson. 

It's an opportunity for Luque to get a win over a Top 10 opponent in front of a pay-per-view audience. An opportunity that would surely open up some big doors in a division that is stacked with well-known challengers. 

Thompson is one of those challengers. He was denied the belt by the smallest of margins against Tyron Woodley in 2016 in a majority draw. 

However, Thompson's shine has worn off over time. He's looked washed in his most recent bouts, specifically a decision loss to Till and a second-round knockout loss to Anthony Pettis. 

The decline of a fighter can be rapid, and it looks like Wonderboy might be in the middle of a free fall. 

Luque should meet him on the way up. He just seems to continue to surge up the rankings, and this fight will continue that trend. 

Prediction: Luque via first-round TKO

Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz have established themselves among the most real fighters in the game. On Saturday, they will square off in the main event of UFC 244 for the BMF title.

The matchup is the rare occasion when a UFC pay-per-view isn't headlined by an actual title fight. Thus, the UFC's creation of a special belt for the fight isn't all that surprising and fans shouldn't mind. This one promises to bring the fireworks.

Gamebred is coming off a UFC-record five-second knockout of Ben Askren that has launched him into stardom. Diaz, who has been relatively inactive since a pair of high-profile fights against Conor McGregor, has just one fight—a unanimous decision win over Anthony Pettis—to his name in the last three years.

Anytime a Diaz brother fights it's a highly anticipated event, and Masvidal is just the right opponent to guarantee this one will be worth the price of admission.

Here's a look at the rest of the card and predictions for the biggest bouts of the night.

Main Card (ESPN+ PPV at 10 p.m. ET)

• 170 lbs.: Jorge Masvidal (-175; bet $175 to win $100) vs. Nate Diaz (+145; bet $100 to win $145)
• 185 lbs.: Kelvin Gastelum (-200) vs. Darren Till (+170)
• 170 lbs.: Vicente Luque (-105) vs. Stephen Thompson (-125)
• 265 lbs.: Blagoy Ivanov (-125) vs. Derrick Lewis (-105)
• 155 lbs.: Kevin Lee (+130) vs. Gregor Gillespie (-160)

UFC 244 ESPN 2 Prelims (8 p.m. ET)

• 205 lbs.: Corey Anderson (+130) vs. Johnny Walker (-160)
• 145 lbs.: Makwan Amirkhani (+200) vs. Shane Burgos (-250)
• 185 lbs.: Edmen Shahbazyan (-130) vs. Brad Tavares (+100)
• 265 lbs.: Andrei Arlovski (+120) vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (-150)

UFC 244 ESPN+ Prelims (6:30 p.m. ET)

• 135 lbs.: Katlyn Chookagian (-160) vs. Jennifer Maia (+130)
• 170 lbs.: Lyman Good (-130) vs. Chance Rencountre (+100)
• 145 lbs.: Julio Arce (+110) vs. Hakeem Dawodu (-140)     

Odds via Caesars.

Masvidal Wins BMF Title in Thriller

Picking this as the Fight of the Night is a no-brainer. The rest of the card is going to have to bring it if they even want a chance at competing for the title.

There are a lot of similarities between Diaz and Masvidal. Outside of their street fighting personas, they are both brawlers who are oftentimes more technical than they are given credit for.

Both have sound striking games in which the jab is the foundation. They both have oft-underrated ground games, but one would think we won't see that. Instead, we'll likely see a fast-paced boxing matchup with some kicks thrown in for good measure.

The difference between the two might be the power of Masvidal.

The 34-year-old's last four wins have all come by way of TKO. While he ended Askren with a flying knee from the outset, most have been done in by his powerful boxing.

Diaz is more of a volume-puncher than knockout artist. He'll keep throwing punches in bunches until the man in front of him is broken. He outlasted McGregor when he famously submitted him and is renowned for his cardio.

The fact this is a five-round affair benefits Diaz. His best hope is to survive the early storm from Masvidal and turn the tide of the fight by the third round, taking the championship rounds en route to another decision win.

But surviving that storm will be difficult. Masvidal has been on a roll in finding the right strike to put his opponent down and will certainly be looking for that knockout shot Saturday night.

Prediction: Masvidal via third-round TKO.

Kelvin Gastelum Gets Back in Title Picture with Win Over Darren Till

Kelvin Gastelum's loss to Israel Adesanya has aged well. Just six months before The Last Stylebender convincingly knocked out Robert Whittaker for the title, the Californian tested the new champion in a decision loss that was awarded Fight of the Night.

With Adesanya establishing himself as the premier fighter in the division, Gastelum is looking to establish himself as a worthy opponent for a rematch.

Darren Till—once a promising prospect in the welterweight division—is looking to forge a new reputation in the middleweight division. After losing a title fight to Tyron Woodley and subsequently getting knocked out by Masvidal, he is looking to move up in weight.

It's once again another matchup where Gastelum will have to overcome a massive height differential. At 5'9" with a 71" reach, he'll be giving up three inches in both height and reach to Till, who was a massive welterweight.

That's not a new obstacle for the 28-year-old, though. He's been the shorter fighter in just about every fight, yet he still finds ways to disrupt his opponent's rhythm and can negate the reach disadvantage.

Till showed the ability to get tagged in his bout against Masvidal, and Gastelum is a strong enough striker to find those weaknesses.

Prediction: Gastelum via decision.

When Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson straps the BMF belt—oh yeah, they built a real belt—around the waist of Saturday's winner between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz, he won't actually be crowning the first official BMF, as UFC brass would have you believe. 

And no, the original BMF isn't Conor McGregor or Jon Jones or Ronda Rousey or any other MMA fighter. Or any other athlete, for that matter.

The original BMF is a man by the name of John Shaft.

Don't even think about laughing. Shaft has a lot to teach us about why this BMF belt appears to hold as much or even more interest—both for the MMA community and the wider sports world—than any of the UFC's "real" championships (or champions) as the UFC 244 main event approaches from New York's Madison Square Garden.

Maybe you've heard of this man John Shaft. Cue the music. In the eponymous 1970s book and film series—along with the remakes, if you want to do that to yourself—Shaft enjoys such activities as being a private detective, kicking ass, taking names and sticking it to the man. Shaft, like Diaz and Masvidal both, is a "bad motherf--ker."  

Here's the point, and it's got nothing to do with the fact that Shaft was a mixed martial artist, although that's a neat little tidbit in its own right. He's an archetype for the modern antihero. He cast the die for what we're really seeing when we see Diaz and Masvidal reaching these heights and packing the most famous house in sports. Yes, Shaft is a complicated man. But in his case, that doesn't put him out of the reach of someone who can be understood—as evidenced by the theme song lyrics, emphasizing a certain woman.

Shaft is human, in other words. To be a real BMF, which really just means antihero, you have to be human. You have to be at least mildly heroic. True BMFs don't punch old men in bars (ahem).

Neither Diaz nor Masvidal is a boy scout. These are coarse men, from upbringings so hard—Diaz in poverty in Stockton, California, Masvidal the backyard fight clubs of Miami—they are the stuff of fan lore. They are mercurial (especially Diaz, whose recent drug-testing tempest in a teapot threatened to shelve this whole enterprise). Don't hold your breath for poetry or political dissertation. Anyone who gets caught looking for a heart of gold is liable to catch a three-piece and a soda for his or her troubles. 

And yet, you get the feeling these aren't the types of guys who are, just as a hypothetical example, disliked by their teammates. There are no arrests, or reports of them acting out against coaches or fans. It's hard to imagine either of them stepping over a homeless person. For as much of each other's blood as these two will attempt to spill Saturday, and as much as they've both bought in to the BMF myth-making with their reams of braggadocio, there has been nothing but respect between them as men, a game-recognize-game dynamic that would seem phony, stilted or even quaint in the hands of so many other duos.

To be a true antihero in the Shaft mold, you need both sides of this coin, and you need both sides to be authentic. No one in the UFC embodies this like Diaz.

For all the swagger and posture he brings to news conferences and, when he deigns to enter it, the cage, he's still just a guy who wants to smoke some weed and do a triathlon. You get the feeling that if Diaz encountered an older person, he might be more inclined than anything else to help them across the road—the kind of thing McGregor once mockingly "accused" him of doing.

The Masvidal dynamic is far less well-known, but it's plenty similar. He's been around since 2003, racking up a 34-13 pro record in that time, a far more extensive collection than Diaz's 20-11. But his ascendance to main event level was meteoric following a 2019 that saw him earn three post-fight bonuses in two knockout wins, crowned by a UFC record five-second knockout of theretofore undefeated Ben Askren, himself a would-be antihero figure.

Masvidal talks plenty tough—witness as just one example his insistence that all reporters on a Monday media call refer to him as "Mr. Masvidal."

"Class is in session," he declared before the questions began.

But the other side of the BMF coin was evident even in this cockiness. There was a winking effect to it, which grew more evident as Masvidal carefully answered each question posed—between repeated unfulfilled threats to hang up if anyone asked him the wrong thing.

That wasn't even the best part, though. When asked about his reaction to Diaz's drug-testing drama, Masvidal could easily have said he blocked it out, kept his nose to the grindstone and what have you.

But the BMF candidate didn't say that. Instead, he did this weird thing that real humans sometimes do called telling the truth.

And it turns out Gamebred is a stress eater. 

"By day two, the anxiety hit," he said. "Two pizzas later, and hot fries, and all the things that I shouldn't have put in my body, the coaching staff got ahold of me and they were able to calm my anxiety down."

This eventually led to Masvidal discussing his struggles with depression and anxiety—alongside, of course, a nice plug for a book project. Who else but a BMF is pulling that off?

The fight itself mirrors this. Beneath brawling stylistic exteriors are nuanced and well-rounded skill sets, powered by thoughtfully honed athleticism. Both are more than capable of a stoppage—a combined 32 between them—but not by way of some WWE-style signature move. Although a finish is entirely possible, it's equally possible the thrills will be interstitial, a jab or guard-pass that swings momentum just a shade and looks a lot nastier in slow motion.

No matter what happens, you get the feeling the loser will raise the better man's hand. When you're talking about the UFC's BMF, there's never a need for unification. 

"I think it just comes down to we both fight, and we're dogs in that cage, but at the same time we see the bullshit, and we don't want to play in the bullshit," Masvidal said on Monday's call. "You're not gonna tell me jump, or wear a suit, or do this. I'm gonna do what the F I feel like and when I want to do it. It's probably the reason it's taken me so long for the UFC to truly get behind me."

Taking a cue from the original BMF, being a great antihero is more than just being a tough dude. You have to be someone people actually want to root for. Is it possible the UFC, in these two uncooperative iconoclasts, have what are in fact two model citizens for the MMA times? 

Scott Harris covers MMA and other sports topics for Bleacher Report.

This preview includes schedule and ticket information, with links to StubHub. Bleacher Report has an affiliate marketing relationship with StubHub. We will receive revenue from your purchase.

UFC 244 comes to Madison Square Garden with a main event that gets to the heart of prizefighting in Jorge Masvidal vs. Nate Diaz. 

There are no real title implications. Unless, of course, you consider the promotional "BMF" title that has been created specifically for the bout. There's no pretense of a bitter rivalry. Just two of the sport's most notorious gladiators looking to put on an entertaining fight for bragging rights and ostensibly a big payday. 

Masvidal enters the bout off his most notable victory to date. He vaporized Ben Askren in just five seconds to set a new UFC record for the fastest knockout in July. 

Diaz has been a needle-mover for years, albeit a relatively inactive one. The longtime UFC and Strikeforce vet has just one fight since a pair of clashes with Conor McGregor. A unanimous decision win over Anthony Pettis in August gives him some momentum heading into the bout. 

It's a fight that the organization is going to draw good pay-per-view numbers from as both have recently been in the public eye. Given their exciting styles, it's unlikely to disappoint. 

Date: Saturday, Nov. 2

Start Time: 10 p.m. ET

TV Info: ESPN 2/ESPN+ Pay-Per-View

Tickets: StubHub

Main Card (ESPN+ PPV at 10 p.m. ET)

• 170 lbs.: Jorge Masvidal (-175; Bet $175 to win $100) vs. Nate Diaz (+145)
• 185 lbs.: Kelvin Gastelum (-200) vs. Darren Till (+170)
• 170 lbs.: Vicente Luque (-105) vs. Stephen Thompson (-125)
• 265 lbs.: Blagoy Ivanov (-125) vs. Derrick Lewis (-105)
• 155 lbs.: Kevin Lee (+130) vs. Gregor Gillespie (-160)

UFC 244 ESPN 2 Prelims (8 p.m. ET)

• 205 lbs.: Corey Anderson (+130) vs. Johnny Walker (-160)
• 145 lbs.: Makwan Amirkhani (+200) vs. Shane Burgos (-250)
• 185 lbs.: Edmen Shahbazyan (-130) vs. Brad Tavares (+100)
• 265 lbs.: Andrei Arlovski (+120) vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (-150)

UFC 244 ESPN+ Prelims (6:30 p.m. ET)

• 135 lbs.: Katlyn Chookagian (-160) vs. Jennifer Maia (+130)
• 170 lbs.: Lyman Good (-130) vs. Chance Rencountre (+100)
• 145 lbs.: Julio Arce (+110) vs. Hakeem Dawodu (-140)

Odds via Caesars.

Diaz and Masvidal Ready to Rumble...With All Due Respect

Diaz and Masvidal are both well-known for their trash talk. Neither guy is afraid to say what's on his mind. 

This time, though, neither has anything bad to say about their opponent. Real recognize real. 

That's because both buy into the same ethos. Fighting is about laying it all on the line for the fans, not finding the safest method for racking up points en route to a decision. 

"I think it just comes down to we both fight and we're dogs in that cage, but at the same time, we see the bulls--t and we don't want to play in the bulls--t," Masvidal said of his UFC 244 opponent, per E. Spencer Kyte of UFC.com. "On the same token, he's the same dude from his side of the country—doing his thing his own way. We both see it and we can salute each other."

The two men have had similar career arcs. Both have been around the game and taken some losses over the years before blossoming into all-out stars later on. The two have 20 combined losses among them, but their willingness to fight aggressively has made them fan favorites. 

When the two meet in the cage it's sure to be a spectacle. Not only are both action fighters, but they both also have well-rounded and surprisingly technical games. Masvidal began his career as a literal street fighter, but he has also proved to be a capable opponent in the grappling department, even having moments against Demian Maia. 

The difference between the two right now appears to be power. Masvidal has been a killer of late, finding ways to land high-impact strikes that can end a fight. 

Diaz is a fighter who relies on attrition as his cardio tends to wear opponents down. Most can't keep up with the pace he sets, and if he does get the finish, it's from exhaustion. 

Masvidal may not make it to that point. He won't back down from the pressure and has a great opportunity to keep the momentum going. 

Prediction: Masvidal via third-round TKO

Kelvin Gastelum Looking to Give Darren Till a Rude Welcome to Middleweight

At one point, Darren Till looked like the next big thing in the welterweight division. Then the rise of our headliner happened as Masvidal laid out the Briton with one massive left hand in March.

Now Till is looking to pick up the pieces by moving up in weight to 185 pounds. It's a move that makes sense given the back-to-back losses and the two times he was unable to make the 170-pound limit in the UFC, but he isn't being given the easiest of debuts in his new division. 

Standing across from him in the co-main event will be Kelvin Gastelum, a former welterweight himself who has become an unlikely successful middleweight. The 5'9" Californian was last seen challenging Israel Adesanya for the interim championship in April. 

The persistent Gastelum put forth a competitive effort against the now-UFC middleweight champion. He dropped the decision but the bout was given Fight of the Night honors and wasn't a blowout by any stretch. 

Now he's hoping a one-sided win over Till could get him back in the cage with the titleholder sooner rather than later. 

"If I go out there and make a statement and I put a stamp on Darren Till, the rest of the world will take notice," he said, per Tom Taylor of Bleacher Report. "I'm ready for what's to come, and I'm ready to jump in line for that title shot."

Till is a highly skilled striker and will have the reach and height advantage over the stocky Gastelum. But that hasn't stopped the American before. He has a way of disrupting taller and more technically skilled striker's rhythms and getting a surprising result. 

Gastelum may have to make it ugly, but expect him to do what he needs to do get back in the win column. 

Prediction: Gastelum via decision

Nate Diaz affirmed he will fight Jorge Masvidal at UFC 244 on Saturday after all the drama over a positive test for trace amounts of a banned substance.

"I thought it was all made up and a bunch of bulls--t anyway," Diaz said Monday, per ESPN's Marc Raimondi. "It's behind us. Now, we can move on."

Diaz also questioned the findings of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, calling it a "conspiracy":

"Diaz said he does not believe what USADA is saying about atypical findings and a tainted supplement. He said he has continued taking the same supplements he has always taken -- raw, organic, vegan supplements from Whole Foods. The UFC said Friday that the supplement that tested positive for LGD-4033 was an organic, vegan, plant-based, daily multivitamin."

Diaz first raised doubt over his bout with Masvidal when he shared a statement (warning: post contains profanity) on Twitter saying he was informed of a test that showed "elevated levels that they say may be from some tainted supplements."

He claimed he had only been using natural food supplements in preparation for UFC 244, adding he was considering not fighting at all because he was "not gonna have my name tainted as a cheater."

According to Raimondi and colleague Ariel Helwani, Diaz was flagged for a selective androgen receptor modulator, but USADA hadn't yet placed him on a provisional suspension. That left the door open for him to step inside the Octagon at Madison Square Garden.

Diaz was ultimately vindicated when USADA and UFC officially cleared him. Jeff Novitzky, the UFC's senior vice president of athlete health and performance, confirmed he had taken a contaminated multivitamin, which led to the flagged test sample.

It was quiet. Maybe a little too quiet.

So much so, that maybe we should have seen something coming.

It is Nate Diaz, after all.

And given the controversy and contentiousness that has symbolized the 34-year-old's career in mixed martial arts, the idea he could have gotten from fight-launch press release to a post-fight press conference with nary a radar blip was pretty preposterous.

But yeah, this one was nuts...even by BMF standards.

For those who've spent several days under a wifi-bereft rock, the Diaz-Jorge Masvidal main event of Nov. 2's UFC 244 show at Madison Square Garden was jeopardized on Thursday when Diaz—long an outspoken champion of "clean" competition—took to Twitter to announce he'd been told he'd shown "elevated levels" of a banned substance during an October test by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (note: contains profanity): 

His six-word tweet—"Your (sic) all on steroids not me"—was accompanied by a lengthy attachment in which he said he'd not be fighting unless UFC, USADA or "whoever is f--king with me fixes it."

"I'm not gonna play their game and try and hide it or keep quite (sic), as they suggested," Diaz wrote. "I'm not gonna have my name tainted as a cheater like these other motherf--kers who keep quiet until after the fight just to so they can get paid. ... I don't give a f--k about some money over my dignity and my legacy. I'm not playing along with this bulls--t."

The Stockton, California, native was never actually banned from the fight, but his sudden Thursday declaration, and a since-deleted Friday tweet in which he demanded UFC boss Dana White "clear my name or I ain't doin' s--t," instantly set the octagonal face-saving dial to full speed ahead.

White took to Twitter to insist "The fight is on. I 100 (percent) knew Nate wasn't taking anything to cheat," and the UFC released a lengthy statement that both chronicled a long-term review of the organization's anti-doping policy in conjunction with USADA and implicitly stated, "Diaz has not committed an anti-doping policy violation, has not been provisionally suspended and is not subject to any sanctions."

According to the statement, Diaz's levels of LGD-4033 (known commercially as Ligandrol)—a prohibited selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM)—were below a revised "minimum threshold" agreed upon by the UFC and USADA as an "innocent contamination." Subsequent lab testing in Utah confirmed two bottles of an organic, vegan, plant-based daily multivitamin he was using were contaminated with LGD-4033, which resulted in his positive sample.

Exactly as he'd suggested in his initial tweet.

It's a legit "baddest motherf--ker in the game" move, said Graham Hunter, sports anchor at ABC's WRTV affiliate in Indianapolis.

But even he was surprised at the level of ballsyness to which Diaz ascended.

"I was a little worried. When he says he's out he's usually out," Hunter said.

"I said these guys wouldn't pull out for a stubbed toe, but I never thought about implied PED use as a cause to end the fight. I'm still not 100 percent certain it's even on. Sounds like it is but you never know with that guy. He doesn't play games with the powers that be."

Never will, it seems. And, for that matter, really never has.

It's hardly a secret that Diaz—occasionally in conjunction with older brother Nick—has been a perennial poster boy for on-the-margins MMA behavior.

He came out as a credible black-hatted villain more than a decade ago, ending a UFC Fight Night match in 2008 with a triangle choke of Kurt Pellegrino that was accompanied by a double-bicep flex and a dual middle-finger salute as the beaten man tapped out.

The infamous "Nashville Brawl" followed barely two years later, when he and Nick took exception to Jason Miller's spontaneous in-cage challenge of family pal Jake Shields and triggered a melee during a live Strikeforce broadcast on CBS.

The Strikeforce promotion never again appeared on CBS and was sold to UFC a year later.

High-profile flare-ups with Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone and Khabib Nurmagomedov maintained Diaz's bad-boy rep with the hardcore set in 2011 and 2015, respectively, before he performed for a pay-per-view audience as a late-stage sub alongside a then-streaking Conor McGregor at UFC 196 in March 2016.

The rivals took their respective supporters to middle-finger Valhalla in the days leading up to the fight in Las Vegas, including a night-before weigh-in at which the fighters were separated from laying hands on each other but still managed to land a few gestures.

Twenty-four hours later, he pulled off the upset of the year by submitting McGregor in two rounds.

Another five months later, their classic rematch did a then-UFC record 1.65 million buys.

So no matter the result with Masvidal, Diaz remains the envelope-pushing gift that keeps on giving.

"They wanted him to be quiet and he wasn't having it. He felt like he was losing control of his reputation and snatched it back," Hunter said. "You have to always admire a guy who stands up for himself."

*Unless otherwise credited, all quotes were obtained firsthand.

The UFC 244 main event between Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal will go on as scheduled after the promotion cleared Diaz of any wrongdoing following a drug test result, per President Dana White:

The UFC released a statement clearing Diaz, and it said the following in part:

"On October 24, 2019, Nate Diaz released a public statement regarding a recent out-of-competition test conducted by USADA. UFC has been notified by USADA that the out-of-competition test concluded that LGD-4033 was present in Mr. Diaz's sample at an amount below the decision concentration level for this substance.

"USADA is reviewing the out-of-competition test as an atypical finding. Further laboratory testing conducted by the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory (SMRTL), a WADA-accredited lab in Salt Lake City, Utah, has confirmed that two bottles of the same organic, vegan, plant-based daily multivitamin that Mr. Diaz was using were each contaminated with LGD-4033, which the evidence supports resulted in Mr. Diaz's positive sample.

"Mr. Diaz has not committed an anti-doping policy violation, has not been provisionally suspended and is not subject to any sanctions. Additionally, UFC has been informed by independent experts who have determined that there is unequivocally no appreciable performance enhancing or therapeutic benefit from the significantly limited amount of LGD-4033 that may be present in his system, which is roughly 10,000 times lower than one LGD-4033 therapeutic dose."

On Thursday, Diaz tweeted that he wasn't fighting after he "tested with elevated levels that they say might be from some tainted supplements," per MMA Weekly (via Yahoo):

"I'm not gonna make it out to NYC for fight week next week because they say I tested with elevated levels that they say might be from some tainted supplements," Diaz wrote.

"I call false on that cause I only take Whole Food or natural food supplements. I don’t even eat meat.

"So until UFC, USADA or whoever is f--king with me fixes it, I won't be competing.

"I'm not gonna play their game and try and hide it or keep quiet, as they suggested. I'm not gonna have my name tainted as a cheater like these other motherf--kers who keep quiet until after the fight just so that they can get paid."

In August, Diaz returned to the UFC after a three-year hiatus and defeated Anthony Pettis via unanimous decision. The 34-year-old owns a 20-11 professional MMA record and is ranked as the UFC's No. 6 welterweight.

Diaz is facing a strong competitor in Masvidal, who recorded a UFC-record five-second knockout over Ben Askren in his last fight at UFC 239 in July. The 34-year-old sports a 34-13 professional mark.

Masvidal is the early favorite at the sportsbooks, per Oddschecker. He's listed anywhere from -160 to -166, meaning bets of $160 or $166 would win $100 for those odds.

UFC 244, which will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City, will be Nov. 2. The five-fight main card also includes a middleweight bout between Kelvin Gastelum and Darren Till and a heavyweight bout featuring Derrick Lewis and Blagoy Ivanov.

The night will mark the UFC's 500th live event.