Dan Hardy breaks down Nate Diaz vs Jorge Masvidal ‘BMF’ fight

MMA analyst, Dan Hardy gave his take on the Jorge Masvidal vs Nate Diaz ‘BMF’ brawl on Saturday 2nd November.

East vs West collided in a bloody battle in the main event of UFC 244. The fight was eventually stopped at the end of the third round by the doctor, due to cuts above Diaz’ eye. The early stoppage put a dampener on an otherwise explosive fight that was edging towards a five-round showdown.

On BT Sport, Hardy was accompanied by Nick Peet and Adam Catterall and they discussed the three-rounds of non-stop action.

“He [Jorge Masvidal] was cruising. Those first two rounds, it almost looked a little bit like he wasn’t even stepping out of third gear. He seemed to manage distance very well, he seemed to know exactly what targets he wanted to work on Nate and he had counters for all the things that Nate does. He was able to capitalize,” said Hardy.

“We expected Nate to get to him at some point, he landed a few shots. But that’s the tenacity of Nate Diaz covering distance. Masvidal’s head movement was excellent, even against the fence.”

Masvidal starched the ‘west coast gangster’ with a flurry of technical strikes and ground and pound. Hardy observed:

“And [Masvidal was] happy to go to the ground with Nate as well, and early on. I was expecting if there was a knockdown, Masvidal was going to step back and call him back to his feet immediately. But it was almost as if he wanted to prove a point. Just standing over him, hitting him on the floor, it just looked so dominant.”

Whilst Hardy spoke highly of the ‘BMF’ winner, he also acknowledged the durability of ‘The Stockton Slapper’. He said:

“You always get that rally from Nate Diaz. There’s always a point in the fight where he goes ‘now hang on a minute, this is my last effort, I’ve got to give it something,’ and I think the cut accentuated that because that was opened up pretty quickly. That was the kick to the head in the first round. Amazing that he came back from that really, ‘cos he was genuinely hurt.”

Dan Hardy also discussed a fake flying knee attempt from Jorge Masvidal during the fight. ‘Gamebred’ delivered a flying knee towards his former opponent, Ben Askren at UFC 239, and KO’d him in five seconds of the first round. He mimicked the move again to toy with Diaz.

“Masvidal has had some fun with it. He’s been having fun since he realised his potential. I think the win over Darren Till was a big confidence boost for him and then taking the gamble in the Askren fight and that paying off worked perfectly. I just think he game into this one with all the swagger in the world, and he fought like it.”

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