UFC 244 Predictions
A new championship will be unveiled in the main event of UFC 244 later tonight. Who will come away with the first-ever BMF Championship?
UFC 244 will be held from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The main card for the event will begin at 10PM ET and air live on PPV as part of ESPN+.
24551 Nate Diaz vs. 24552 Jorge Masvidal
These two will be competing for the BMF Championship in a special feature, as the UFC has deemed these two as the baddest MF’ers in the organization. Masvidal (34-13) and Diaz (20-11) will compete at welterweight in this bout. According to oddsmakers, Masvidal is listed as the favorite with -155 odds, while Diaz has been given +135 odds to win. Masvidal is coming off a 5-second KO of unbeaten Ben Askren back in July thanks to a flying knee. He has won his last two fights. Diaz is coming off a decision win over Anthony Pettis in August after taking three years off. Both men are extremely difficult to stop and bright the fight to their opponent. Masvidal has needed to finish most of his opponents to win and I think that is why Diaz is the play here. Diaz has only been stopped twice in his career. He is a tough dude who is going to throw a lot of punches at Masvidal and try to tire him out for a flurry in the end or a submission attempt if it goes to the ground. I think Diaz will be the more active fighter and that will get him the nod on the scorecards. UFC 244 Prediction: Nate Diaz +135
24506 Kelvin Gastelum vs. 24505 Darren Till +195
The co-main event is a middleweight bout between Gastelum (15-4) and Till (17-2-1). Oddsmakers are listing Gastelum as the favorite, as he is getting odds -230 to win, while Till is listed with a money line of +195 to prevail. Gastelum is coming off a five-round decision loss to current champ Israel Adesanya back in April. He owns some big wins over the years and has fought all of the best in the division. Till is coming off back-to-back losses to Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal at welterweight and is now moving up to middleweight. I think that is going to be a tough jump for him, especially against a fighter the caliber of Gastelum. Gastelum has all the skills and the engine to take the fight to Till. I look for him to overwhelm Till and finish the fight in the second round. UFC 244 Prediction: Kelvin Gastelum -230