Nate Diaz is cool with a four-man BMF title tournament so long as Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje aren’t part of the field.
Earlier this week, Poirier posed the idea of a potential BMF tourney with four of the promotion’s baddest motherf*ckers competing against one another on a single night. Poirier’s field of fighters would include himself, former BMF titleholder Justin Gaethje, surging lightweight contender Dan Hooker, and of course, current BMF champion Max ‘Blessed’ Holloway.
“If you can fight in a tournament, one night against multiple opponents, dude that’s the definition of BMF,” Poirier wrote in a post on X.
Following Tuesday’s episode of Dana White’s Contender Series, the UFC CEO gave the idea his seal of approval saying that it “Sounds fun,” and that “I never thought about it, but I love it.”
Dana White reacts to Dustin Poirier’s 4-man BMF tournament proposal:
“Sounds fun. Never thought about it but yea I love it.” 👀👀#UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/64JgPDDLxJ
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 9, 2024
Despite having never won the BMF title, Nate Diaz chimed in with his take on the proposed tournament. The ‘Stockton Samurai’ demanded that the “2 nerds” be removed from the field of fighters—those being Gaethje and Poirier.
“Dana White, Dan (Hooker) and Max (Holloway) are eligible for my belt but get the other 2 nerds out of there, they don’t fit the description,” Diaz posted on his Instagram story.
Nate Diaz Fought for the Inaugural BMF Belt, But Has Never Held It
Nate Diaz fought Jorge Masvidal in 2019 for the inaugural BMF title in November 2019 at UFC 244. Diaz lost the bout via a doctor’s stoppage following the third round. ‘Gamebred’ never defended the bragging rights belt, nor did he win another fight inside the Octagon.
Including his loss against Diaz in a July boxing bout, Masvidal has lost five in a row.
After ‘Gamebred’ exited the UFC, Justin Gaethje captured the BMF belt via a second-round head kick KO against ‘The Diamond’ at UFC 291. Nine months later, he lost the title to Holloway after ‘Blessed’ scored an insane buzzer-beating knockout against ‘The Highlight’ at UFC 300.
Holloway is currently scheduled to challenge Ilia Topuria at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi on October 26.
Ilia Topuria said he has an "old folks" home with a room for Alex Volkanovski and has one waiting for Max Holloway 👀 #UFC308 pic.twitter.com/59x6qwmA5Z
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 9, 2024
Interestingly, no fighter who has ever held the BMF belt has found their way back into the win column. Will Holloway buck that trend and become and add the undisputed featherweight title to his collection?
Relive Holloway and Gaethje’s instant classic below:
