Thanks to a fight against Nate Diaz back in 2019, Jorge Masvidal ushered in the “BMF” era after he became the first ever “baddest motherf*cker” champion in UFC history.
At the time, UFC CEO Dana White said the symbolic title that was wrapped around Masvidal’s waist by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was just something fun to heighten the stakes in the fight but he had no plans for the belt to stick around long term. That changed in 2023 when the UFC re-introduced the “BMF” title with Justin Gaethje claiming the belt following a stunning second-round knockout over Dustin Poirier.
Less than a year later, Max Holloway took that belt from Gaethje with arguably one of the greatest finishes in UFC history after he pointed to the canvas and invited the human wrecking machine to stand and trade with him. The final punch from Holloway that landed sent Gaethje crashing face first to the canvas and a new “BMF” champion was crowned.
“I’m the biggest Max fan also,” Masvidal said about Holloway when speaking to MMA Fighting. “I love this guy. I love how he fights. I love his style. I love how he carries himself outside of the ring. One of my favorite all-time fighters.”
While he’s still holding the “BMF” title, Holloway’s next assignment comes in October when he faces reigning featherweight champion Ilia Topuria in the UFC 308 main event.
Immediately after flattening Gaethje at UFC 300, Holloway called for the chance to reclaim the belt he previously held until coming up short in a trilogy of fights against Alexander Volkanovski.
The “BMF” title isn’t going up for grabs but no matter what happens in that matchup, Masvidal loves the idea of putting himself against Holloway in a fight for the ages.
“It would be an honor to get in there with Max,” Masvidal said. “It would be an honor and we could throw down. We’d put on a f*cking epic show. One of those fights for all the generations, all lifetime. I wouldn’t mind that.”
The promotional possibilities for a fight like that are nearly endless, especially considering Masvidal’s standing as the first ever “BMF” champion and Holloway now holding onto that same “BMF” title.
Masvidal isn’t necessarily calling for that fight but he has so much admiration for Holloway that he couldn’t at least entertain that idea if the UFC came calling.
“Me and Max could do some serious shit out there,” Masvidal said. “One of the greatest fights ever. One ‘BMF’ has the quickest knockout ever, the other ‘BMF’ has the latest knockout ever in a fight. It was at 4:59 in round five. So many interesting [parts] to me and Max fighting.
“We’re not going to grapple obviously, We’re just going to stand there and bite down on the mouthpiece and f*cking let the leather go. A f*cking dream match.”
Now if there was one major obstacle preventing that fight from happening it would be the weight class.
Holloway has spent most of his career fighting at 145 pounds but he has traveled up to lightweight a few times in his career including the fight against Gaethje in April.
Meanwhile, Masvidal started his career at 155 pounds but in recent years he’s been competing only at welterweight and he admits there’s very little chance he could ever go back down to his old division again.
That said, Masvidal understands the entire concept behind the “BMF” title is a willingness to throw down against anybody, at any time and doing it anywhere — and he has a feeling Holloway lives by that same code.
“It’s also a lot to ask of Max to come up to 155 or 170,” Masvidal said. “I can’t really fight at 155 anymore. I wouldn’t mind it one bit. Max is a legend and I’d love to get in there and mix it up with him.”
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