I've said it before and I will say it again. The "Baddest MOFO" belt was always a stupid idea and it always will be one. The belt was introduced in order to add a bit more credibility to fights that don't involve movement towards championship belts or when two fighters are in different weight classes to meet in the middle. There are a lot of reasons why this belt should never have been introduced and even more reasons why it needs to be retired.
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it all began back with Nate Diaz vs Jorge Masvidal and that fight was a waste of time in many regards especially the fact that it ended due to medical stoppage because of a cut on Nate's head. He's a bleeder, he always has been a bleeder, and even though the cut was nasty as hell, I've seen Nate finish fights looking as though he bathed in blood between rounds.
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The fight itself was entertaining but the prize just never was. A BMF belt???? seriously? Is this the WWE now? Let's just have a Money in the Bank competition where you can challenge for the championship at any point in time, even the parking lot of Wendy's. How about a Royal Rumble? That would spice things up with 20 dudes in the octagon for half an hour?
The BMF belt took a back seat because I don't think I am alone in feeling as though it is a stupid prize. Hell, even the Rock Dwayne Johnson seemed uncomfortable when he was strapping it around Masvidal's waist after the inaugural fight because even he kind of understood how silly it was to begin with.
As much as I would like to see it go away UFC is still putting it out there in an upcoming match between Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje. Everyone knows that both of these guys are absolute powerhouses and great entertainers. I stand with many other voices out there that think that adding the BMF belt as a reward is just unnecessary. These two could headline a PPV without getting any silly theatrics involved.
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Fighter Dan Hooker recently said "But having a BMF title and hanging that on my wall and being proud of that is not the same as a world title. I’d probably put it under the bed or something like that."
I totally agree with this sentiment. The fighters all kind of agree that the only reason that they would vie for the BMF belt is because one, it really isn't up to them it is up to Dana White and two, because there are financial perks that come along with competing for it. I think these financial perks would exist without the existence of a silly and meaningless belt though seeing as how the only people that are ever offered these fights are already the most exciting and dangerous fighters in the UFC.
Another reason why the belt shouldn't exist is because of the fact that it is always likely going to remain in the same weight division unless it is forcibly moved to another or even worse, if they introduce even more of them. We are never going to see a lightweight go up and meet a heavyweight in the middle to compete for this belt because one of them would die trying to make weight.
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Whoever wins between Gaethje and Poirier, I am hopeful that they will pay the belt very little regard or maybe just place it on the ground before the speak to Joe Rogan in the post-fight interview. At the very least they should just leave it at home any time they fight in the future.
Dana, it's time to just admit that this was a marketing ploy and it was a stupid one at that. You didn't need justification to have Diaz fight Masvidal just like you don't need justification for Gaethje to fight Poirier. Literally everyone wants to see this fight anyway and a made up title isn't necessary to sweeten the pot for the fans.