- In the main event of the evening, Jorge Masvidal defeated Nate Diaz to win the BMF title belt. After dominating the first three rounds, “Gamebred” secured a TKO victory after the fight was called to an end due to a doctor’s stoppage.
- Reflecting on the fight’s controversial ending Masvidal said “For a fact, I told Nate right now, let’s run it back. They gave me the love, I give it right back. UFC make it happen, let’s run it back. I don’t like to leave the ring like this with my opponent conscious. There’s only one way to do it and that’s to baptize them and I didn’t get to baptize Nate, so we’re going to run it back. On a personal note, I want to thank American Top Team, there’s some fake fools out there running their mouths. We’re going to run it back New York, we gave you three good rounds, don’t be booing me, I’ll hand out these three pieces and a soda to you too. We’re going to run it back, so don’t worry about it, it’s going to happen again.”
- On his middleweight debut, Englishman Darren Till returned to the win column with a split decision victory over Kelvin Gastelum. With the victory “The Gorilla” now improves to an 18-2-1 career record and looks poised for a successful spell in the middleweight division.
- Discussing a challenging return to the Octagon, Till said “I think I just had some demons I had to deal with after those losses. We fighters don’t talk about it, but I was just talking from my heart. Before I fought Woodley, I hadn’t been beat in my life in anything. I felt like a superhuman and then I got beat twice, and nowadays with the media, you get slammed even more, so inside I was fighting a lot. To be totally honestly, tonight I was terrified to get in there, just to do the three rounds. After the first round, I was just like, “What’s wrong with you, Darren?” I knew I was one of the best. There’s all this BMF talk going on and I just stepped up in weight and fought Kelvin Gastelum, the bulldozer of the middleweight division, so I’m just taking this a step at a time and I’m just happy to even be here.”
- Stephen Thompson also returned to winning ways on Saturday night after a unanimous decision victory over Vicente Luque. “Wonderboy” dominated the bout, picking apart his opponent and neutralising Luque’s knockout potential.
- An emotional Thompson said “It feels amazing to get back into the win column. My last two fights were obviously losses, so I wanted to come back in here and show the UFC and the fans that I can still compete against a tough opponent and come out victorious. Coming out of there with my hand raised, words can’t describe it. Madison Square Garden is the venue of all venues, to be able to perform here not just once or twice, but three times is definitely a dream come true. There’s nothing like it, when you walk through these halls and know the talent and athletes that have performed here, it’s epic for sure. I felt great to be honest with you, he hits hard, I think he has a harder head than I do, but it was awesome.”
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