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It appears as if UFC has a Plan B ready for the Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal fight at UFC 244 in case any one of them pulled out of the event.
According to Chisanga Malata of Daily Star Sport, the backup plan is Leon Edwards, who has been paid by UFC to train in the camp, and be game-ready if needed.
Edwards likely to replace Nate Diaz
On Thursday, Nate Diaz announced in a social media post that he would not be going to New York after all. He tweeted this after his test results came up positive for banned supplements that he was sure he had not taken. Calling out UFC and USADA for messing with him, Diaz said he would not fight until they fix the situation.
But with Diaz calling off his fight, Edwards could possibly be the person replacing him at the Madison Square Garden on November 2.
If it is finally Edwards who goes up against Jorge Masvidal in the main card, it would give him a perfect opportunity to take revenge for the backstage brawl they were involved in at UFC London earlier this year. ‘Gamebred’ gave Edwards the ‘three-piece and a soda’ and fans immediately expected their run-in to materialize into an in-cage fight.
But that never happened, as the two went on to fight other opponents. Both of them would be coming off from great runs in the Octagon if they face-off, with Edwards riding on an 8-win streak since his decision loss to Kamaru Usman in 2015 and Masvidal with two big knockout wins in 2019 against Darren Till and Ben Askren.
With only a week to go before the event, UFC is yet to comment on the Nate Diaz situation, and whether he will indeed be replaced by Edwards.
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