Nate Diaz vs Jorge Masvidal
UFC 244 — November 2019
The first time the belt was on the line and the stage doesn’t get much bigger than Madison Square Garden. Jorge Masvidal had become a huge star following a sensational knockout over Ben Askren via a flying knee, the quickest KO in UFC history. The rise in ”Gamebred’s” popularity made him the perfect opponent for the man who essentially coined the title, Nate Diaz.
Masvidal began the fight strongly, rocking Diaz on more than one occasion as he controlled the fight. It would take more than that to stop Nate Diaz, who has only been stopped on a handful of occasions throughout his long career. Known for his impressive cardio, Diaz improved as the fight went on, but unfortunately for him, scar tissue above his right eye led to a nasty cut opening up—something we had seen before on numerous occasions with Diaz.
The doctor decided that Diaz could not longer continue, and to a chorus of boos from the crowd, Jorge Masvidal was crowned the UFC’s first-ever BMF champion. To add to the occasion, WWE legend and Hollywood actor Dwayne ”The Rock” Johnson entered the Octagon to strap the belt on the new BMF, a fitting end to a wild night in New York City.
Dustin Poirier vs Justin Gaethje
UFC 291 — July 2023
With the belt’s legitimacy being questioned from the outset, it was important that the next time the BMF title was contested, it was between two worthy opponents. With Masvidal retiring from mixed martial arts the belt became vacant, and it was four years before it was on the line again.
Doubters of the BMF title became less vocal when it was revealed that Dustin Poirier would face Justin Gaethje for the belt in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the headline bout for UFC 291. Poirier went into the fight as the favorite and had a previous win over Gaethje, albeit five years earlier. Both were now better and more experienced, so the fight certainly wasn’t a foregone conclusion.
An uncharacteristic head kick from Justin Gaethje knocked out Poirier halfway through the second round. It was reminiscent of Leon Edwards against Kamaru Usman in the same arena, and the MMA world couldn’t believe what they had just witnessed. Jorge Masvidal, the original BMF, crowned the new champion.
Justin Gaethje vs Max Holloway
UFC 300 — April 2024
Unless you’ve lived under a rock this past week, you will know how this story goes. Max Holloway made the brave decision of moving up in weight to 155lb to challenge Gaethje for the BMF title, and it’s fair to say that ”Blessed” had a lot more to lose than his opponent going into the fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. He entered the fight as the underdog, but as history tells us with the BMF title, that’s somewhat irrelevant.
Gaethje sustained a broken nose in the first round after being on the receiving end of a spinning back kick. Holloway continued to apply the pressure for the following rounds and built up a commanding lead on the judges’ scorecards. Then, remarkably, Holloway gestured Gaethje to the center of the Octagon for the remaining ten seconds to slug it out. Instead of playing it safe and winding the clock down, Holloway decided to engage with one of the most feared strikers in the UFC.
An unnecessary risk? Absolutely. A stupid decision? Probably. But this is Max Holloway and he’s built different, as is Justin Gaethje. It’s why they’re fan favorites and competing for the BMF title in the first place. After they threw the kitchen sink at each other, Holloway caught ”The Highlight” with a right hand, knocking him out flush with just one second left of the twenty-five-minute fight. Max Holloway became the third BMF champion, and the victory meant that the belt has continued to change hands every time it’s been on the line.
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