UFC analyst says BMF belt has lost meaning: ‘not enough real fighters left’

Din Thomas believes that the trilogy fight between Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier at the upcoming UFC 318 event should be the last BMF fight in history.

Current BMF champion Holloway will defend the belt in Poirier's final career fight, which will take place on July 19 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, USA. It will be only the fourth UFC fight for the BMF belt.

The BMF story began with Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz at UFC 244 in November 2019. The BMF belt then disappeared from the radar until the fight between Poirier and Justin Gaethje at UFC 291 in July 2023. The last BMF fight was when Holloway scored a legendary last-second knockout of Gaethje at UFC 300 in April 2024. There is no official rule when and why BMF fights are arranged, but MMA analyst Thomas believes the belt is losing its meaning.

Statement

- I think this should be the last (fight for the BMF belt), only because the BMF belt is very limited. Everyone wants to fight for him, but since he's mostly in the hands of lightweight and welterweight fighters, you automatically rule out many who could be in that story. And then you ask yourself, 'What are we actually doing with it?' Honestly, today's scene isn't full of real BMFs like it used to be. Now we have a bunch of athletes lobbying for money and 'money fights'. There aren't as many real BMFs as there used to be, so I think it should be discontinued," Thomas told MMA Junkie.

It's unknown what will happen to the BMF belt if Holloway wins at UFC 318, though the UFC may still see marketing potential in the whole storyline. But if Poirier wins his last fight, Thomas believes it would be the perfect opportunity to retire the belt for good.

- If the BMF belt is retired along with Dustin, that's fine with me. That would allow Dustin to say goodbye as the BMF champion. That would wrap up his career perfectly because Dustin has been the BMF his entire career. And if he leaves with that belt? Come on, man. It's like a fairy tale. Unprecedented. And I really like that, too - concluded Thomas.