UFC CEO Dana White Open to Dustin Poirier’s Four-Man BMF Tournament
Dana White is down with a four-man BMF tournament.
During an appearance on SiriusXM’s MMA Today podcast, three-time lightweight title challenger Dustin Poirier suggested a four-man tourney to determine who the baddest motherf*cker in mixed martial arts truly is.
“Now that excites me. Because that kind of stuff is for the dogs. That’s like old Pride days or Grand Prix,” Poirier said. “That’s a real BMF. If you can fight a tournament in one night, multiple opponents, that’s the definition of BMF. That would be it. If they put that together and it was a one-night tournament, that would be it” (h/t BJPenn.com).
Reacting to the idea following Tuesday’s episode of Dana White’s Contender Series, the UFC CEO gave it his stamp of approval.
“Sounds fun. Never thought about it, but yeah, I love it.”
Thus far, there have been three BMF titleholders since the belt was first introduced in 2019. Jorge Masvidal became the inaugural BMF champion via a third-round doctor’s stoppage TKO against Nate Diaz at UFC 266. ‘Gamebred’ never defended the belt and essentially vacated it after walking away from the UFC following a four-fight losing streak last year.
Justin Gaethje claimed the title in July 2023 with a second-round head kick KO against Dustin Poirier, but his time with the title was cut short by Max Holloway, who made a highlight out of ‘The Highlight’ via a buzzer-beating knockout at UFC 300 in April.
Holloway is currently scheduled to challenge Ilia Topuria for the featherweight world title on October 26 at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.
Nate Diaz tells dana white to get those ‘2 nerds’ out of proposed BMF title Tournament
Getting wind of Poirier’s idea, Nate Diaz approved of the idea, but not all the participants.
“@DanaWhite Dan [Hooker] and Max [Holloway] are eligible for my belt.” Nate Diaz wrote on his Instagram story, responding to Poirier’s recent comments. “But get those other [two] nerds out of there they don’t fit the description.”
Diaz calling the BMF title “my belt” is an interesting choice of words considering he never once held it. And suggesting that Poirier and Gaethje — two of the most beloved strikers in the game — “don’t fit the description” of a BMF is also pretty wild.
If you could pick any four fighters to compete in a one-night BMF title tournament, who would be in your bracket?
