Daniel Cormier believes the highly anticipated rematch between top-ranked lightweights Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier is the perfect opportunity for the promotion to reintroduce the BMF title.
Dana White made the blockbuster announcement earlier this week, revealing that the two leather-slinging fan favorites will run back their 2018 instant classic that saw ‘The Diamond’ walk away with a fourth-round knockout. The rematch will take place in the UFC 291 main event, emanating from Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. The event will also feature the light heavyweight debut of former middleweight champion Alex Pereira as he meets another former titleholder, Jan Blachowicz.
With just over a month to go before the UFC heads back to The Crossroads of the West, UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier shared his thoughts on the highly anticipated lightweight clash and the reveal that it will be for the BMF title.
“I don’t care what you think about the meaning of that title. When you look at that title, you recognize it’s a beautiful belt. It is a beautiful belt with The Rock walking out to present it in Madison Square Garde, it felt big,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel.
“It felt like we were seeing something different. The BMF championship was almost created based on the words of Nathan Diaz in Anaheim in 2019 because ‘Gamebred’ was in the crowd after Nate beat Anthony Pettis and said, ‘I’m the baddest motherf*cker. I know another motherf*cker that I can fight and his name is Jorge Masvidal.’ Lighbulb went off like, ‘Yo, we can create a title and have these two dudes fight.”
Some suggest that the BMF title was created just as a way to promote pay-per-view main events where no traditional UFC championship is on the line. Cormier disagrees.
“I don’t think that’s why it was created. I think Nate had a pretty good idea and the people in the know and the people in charge were like, ‘Yo, this makes sense because now we have something to fight for.’ Everybody wants to fight for something and when you talk about bad motherf*ckers, Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier come to mind immediately.”
Daniel Cormier Believes Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier Are More Complete Fighters Heading into Their UFC 291 Rematch
Unlike their 2018 showdown at UFC on Fox 29, Daniel Cormier believes that both Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier are complete fighters and present a much bigger threat inside the Octagon than they did five years ago during their first meeting.
“These guys are going to fight for the second time,” Cormier said. “The first time they fought in 2018, they were both good. Very exciting guys in the UFC and we all looked forward to the fight, but today, they’re two different fighters. Gaethje had just lost for the first time in his career when Eddie Alvarez had knocked him out and at the point that they fought the first time, Dustin Poirier had been up and down. They were not the complete versions of themselves that they are today.
“Because as good as Justin Gaethje was, that was only his fourth appearance inside the Octagon. He was not ready. He was not prepared to go to the top like he has now. Dustin Poirier was finding his footing at 155 and truly becoming an elite lightweight. These guys today are both former interim champions and worked their way back to title fights another time.
“This is the fight to make for the BMF championship because there is no one like these two and while Justin Gaethje is a little more forward with his crazy, Dustin Poirier is about as much of a dog as you’re ever going to find. He’s crazy too, he just doesn’t say it as outwardly as Justin Gaethje, but when you listen to the words of Dustin Poirier, he’s a dog.”
The former two-division UFC champion did not offer a prediction for the matchup but hopes to see the winner move on and continue to defend the BMF belt unlike the title’s last holder, Jorge Masvidal.
