UFC get their antiheroes back for a bite at the Big Apple

Jorge Masvidal vs. Nate Diaz is set to take place at Madison Square Gardens on 3rdNovember 2019 for UFC 244. Early numbers show this is trending to be the biggest event in UFC history, bigger than any Conor McGregor or Rhonda Rousey fight. Which bears the question with no official belt on the line why are these two fighters capturing the public’s imagination in an unprecedented manner?

The answer appears to be that both have become cult heroes in the world of MMA thanks to their authenticity and embracement of the counterculture.

People have always loved fighters that are authentic all the way back to Muhammad Ali era. Both Diaz & Masvidal have remained true to where they come from & in the digital era where sports stars are increasingly savvy, the more the public hunger after a star that is honest & straight talking.

The UFC traditionally branded itself as the counterculture arena of the sports world but over the last few years with the emergence of superstars like Conor McGregor it has become more mainstream culminating with a 1.5-billion-dollar deal with Americas biggest sports network ESPN until 2025.

Enter Nate Diaz & Jorge Masvidal. With the pot-smoking, Stockton representing Diaz and the Miami based self-proclaimed ‘Street Jesus’ of Cuban descent in Masvidal the UFC have two reliable mutineers who will elicit a throwback to the early days of the organisation

Masvidal & Diaz, counterculture heroes

Diaz stands out in a circus of performers by doing nothing but being himself. This was on display on his last open workout at UFC 242 when he strolled out smoking a joint from his own cannabis business and proceeded to pass out more to his fans

Masvidal poked fun at his Cuban Miami roots by dressing as the Hollywood movie Scarface character Tony Montana for his recent press conference with Nate Diaz. After years in the shadows and being known on the underground for his appearances on YouTube in the early 2000s popular fighting video series ‘Kimbo Slice’s Backyard Street Fights’, he has become the break out star of the UFC in 2019 and their first successful East Coast Latino.

In a one off move the UFC have created a special ‘BMF’ title for the event. This title idea was created by Nate Diaz after his beating of Anthony Pettis at UFC 242. In the post-fight press conference Diaz stated:

“No one’s showing any acknowledgement for being the best fighter in the world. Which I am, just like Masvidal. I’m the best martial artist. We’re not just some ‘hold on to me wrestlers’ who will hold you and hopefully win the rounds finding a loophole to winning these fights and put a belt on their waist. Now we’re fighting for the baddest motherf__ker in the game belt. And that’s mine! So I’d like to defend that against Jorge Masvidal, so if he wants to be the baddest motherf__ker that’s how we gonna do it.”

Newly Created BMF Belt

Dana White confirmed last month the UFC would create a custom made BMF belt for Masvidal vs. Diaz. One man who has issue with this new belt is Conor McGregor who took to twitter to post ‘What date is that interim BMF title fight on again’ to suggest he already owns the BMF title.

The newly created BMF title has been sparking lots of attention and one of the biggest celebrities on earth Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock is rumoured to be attending to place the belt around the winner’s waist at the event in Madison Square Garden in New York.

It remains to be seen if the fight will break the current UFC pay per view record of 2.4 millions buys for Khabib vs. Mcgregor at UFC 229 in 2018, but if it does, to leave you with the infamous words of Nate Diaz in his post fight interview with Joe Rogan after he defeated Conor Mcgregor, “I’m not surprised motherf__ckers!”

Article by Omar Youssef administrator thehumanoidnewsomaryoussef@gmail.com Finance, science and medical journalist and general practitioner with immunology and physiology experience. See author's posts