Nate Diaz spoke a belt into creation in 2019. After a hard-fought victory against Anthony Pettis at UFC 241, Diaz jumped on the mic to call out a fellow west coast gangster. The BMF belt was created for a super fight between Diaz and Jorge Masvidal. The fight headlined Madison Square Garden and was presented by superstar Dwane The Rock Johnson.
With the hype this new belt brought to the fight, it seemed as if the UFC had introduced an exciting, unique opportunity to its company. Currently, at the back end of 2022, the belt is nowhere to be seen.
The BMF Belt
The Baddest Motherf*cker belt was unlike the UFC’s championship belts. It was silver and had the letters ‘BMF’ across its front, unlike the gold belts with the company’s logo. The belt excited fans as it was something never seen before and gave the fight it was designed for a lot of hype.
Although UFC president Dana White has previously said it was a one-time thing, he has considered going back on that idea. The long-time president of the organisation considered its return when Jorge Masvidal fought Colby Covington at UFC 272 in March of this year.
Dana White did not go through with the decision. It may show that with the right bad blood between two fighters, he may finally bring the silver belt back.
Masvidal has previously made it clear he wants to defend the belt he won in 2019. In July of this year, he took to social media to call out former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor.
BMF Rankings
The belt fought for at welterweight, so technically, if the belt was to return, it would be at 170 lbs.
The claim to be the Baddest M’fer in the UFC is something countless fighters in the UFC would want to be set in stone. Those like Diaz and Masvidal could care less about a squeaky-clean record. Fighters, as such, just want an opponent with similar values as them.
If the belt was to return professionally and consistently, why not give it a ranking system? The rankings could be a new chance for fighters and the company to interact with the fans. A chance to see whom the MMA community classed as a BMF would bring the fighters and fans together. Something that the UFC had never seen before, possibly. A new way for fan favourites to compete against each other for something other than a one-off fight or a chance at a real title.
New Opportunities
Some fighters in the UFC have stolen MMA fans’ hearts with their ‘just bleed’ attitude. Their anywhere, any place and anyone’s attitudes may give them claim to a BMF title.
There are fighters out there who bleed for the sport but may never quite get to lay claim as champions in their respective divisions. These fighters would defiantly benefit from this. It would be a platform that rewarded them for caring less about gold and more about their fighting. Something the UFC could definitely make use of.
The belt itself isn’t the incentive at hand. The belt would create a new way of fighters headlining cards without any title ramifications. Take the recent UFC 279 card. Diaz, Ferguson, Holland, Khamzat, all fighters that have a claim to the Baddest Motherf*cker. If this belt was a reality, the fights could have been number one contender fights to lay claim to a technically vacant new belt.
A Good Time to Return
The MMA community could sit for endless hours and discuss who is most deserving of such a belt. It was a fan-favourite idea back then, and it would be a fan favourite idea if it was to return.
With Nate Diaz already having his final fight for the UFC and the belt not appearing in any of Jorge Masvidal’s fights since it could be a perfect time to reintroduce the belt. Time for two new BMFs to sell out an arena for their chance at the BMF belt.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
