UFC Fans React to Masvidal vs Diaz Controversial Ending

Fans were all fired up for Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz to meet in the octagon on Saturday night to decide the UFC BMF Championship. Madison Square Garden was ready for a great fight, but fans left the UFC 244 feeling a bit jilted by the end of the fight. Masvidal walked away with the belt but did so after cage-side officials stopped the fight due to an open cut on Diaz's face. Adding to some of the frustration is the fact that this bout was set the tone a one-time-only affair where the custom championship would only be defended once. Four rounds in and neither fighter had the chance to end this encounter on their terms. In the entire week leading up to this bout, the rivalry between these fighters boiled as both wanted to be known as "the baddest motherf—er in the game." Now, after the fight, both fighters seemed a bit wanting themselves as each expressed a desire to run it back again for another go after a bit of an anticlimactic finish.

What a year it has been for Masvidal, as the MMA veteran broke the record for the fastest knockout in UFC history. He destroyed Ben Askren in six seconds with a flying knee right out of the gates back at UFC 239. That impressive moment caught Diaz's eye and the wheels were already turning. From there, Dana White designed the promotion of the fight around the BMF belt and the bragging rights associated with a one-off title. For his part, Masvidal talked earlier this week about why his road to main-event booking in the UFC has been so long.

"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 bullsh—, and we don't play in the bulls—," Masvidal told the press on a conference call. "You're not going to tell me jump, or wear a suit, or do this. I'm going to do what the f— I feel like, and when I want to do it. It's part of the reason it's taken me so long to get the UFC to truly get behind me.

Masvidal entered the fight as the favorite by Las Vegas oddsmakers, with a line of -160 to Diaz's +140.

Cover photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images