UPDATE! Nate Diaz vs Jorge Masvidal Back On at UFC 244!

Well that was confusing.

After Nate Diaz came forward to explain to fans the machinations behind the scenes heading into UFC 244, the MMA world was thrown on it’s head. Nate Diaz had effectively “removed” himself from his UFC 244 main event against Jorge Masvidal. Nate Diaz reportedly had elevated levels according to tests by USADA causing him to come forward against advice from the UFC.

MMA fans all thought the fight was off and that we wouldn’t be getting the promised “Gangster vs Gangster” match at UFC 244 for the BMF title.

Now it seems that the fight between Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal is back on.

Ariel Helwani posted a statement on Instagram that explains the situation pretty clearly.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

The UFC has just issued a lengthy statement about the Nate Diaz situation. In short, they have cleared him of any wrongdoing and he is good to compete next weekend. Excerpt: “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.” ? Getty

A post shared by Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) on Oct 25, 2019 at 9:24pm PDT

While you can’t help but be happy and excited that the fight is still on, it does raise some questions. Other fighters are confused to why Nate Diaz hasn’t been officially suspended from USADA.

UFC Bantamweight contender Sean O’Malley even posted this to Twitter.

Sounds familiar https://t.co/w3dNQDFVKT

— Sean O’Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) October 25, 2019

This makes no sense.

— Sean O’Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) October 26, 2019

Apparently O’Mailey had gone through a similar situation, but was suspended by USADA for it and unable to make money from fighting for quite some time. Is this latest situation showing the favoritism of some fighters over other by the UFC/USADA?

For more news and updates, follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Managing Editor at Generation Iron, Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Sound Cloud for in-depth MMA analysis.