Holloway, Volkanovski Want Their Own ‘BMF’ Belt

Some UFC fighters think the “BMF” belt is “kind of stupid.”

Others have embraced its return at the upcoming UFC 291 pay-per-view (PPV) event on July 29 in Salt Lake City, where two of the baddest motherf—kers at 155 pounds, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje, will rematch across five rounds of slam-bang action.

And it sounds like the winner already has a target on his back.

“At the end of the day, fight anyone, anywhere, anytime,” UFC featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski said on YouTube (transcribed by Farah Hannoun). “Who’s the ruler of the badasses? It’s the guys that will fight injured and consistently, guys like Israel Adesanya, like myself. I’d do it anywhere, any place, any time. Maybe a ‘BMF’ belt fight while … if Islam is there doing his thing and then we do our immediate rematch after, then I can have three belts. I’d love that. Featherweight, ‘BMF’ belt, and that lightweight belt.”

Volkanovski (25-2) made a trip up to the lightweight division at UFC 284 in Perth but fell short of the title after losing a close decision to 155-pound kingpin Islam Makhachev. “The Great” will make his next featherweight title defense opposite Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 on July 8 in Las Vegas.

But the 35 year-old Aussie isn’t the only featherweight with “BMF” dreams.

“For sure, there’s the other belts,” former UFC featherweight titleholder Max Holloway told The MMA Hour. “We’ll see how July pans out, we’ll see how my next fight pans out, and we’ll see. Who knows? We saw that fun BMF belt, with Gaethje and Poirier. Me and Poirier fought two times and people keep harassing me about Gaethje anyway. At the end of the day, that would be fun at ‘55. We’ll see what happens. Like I said, we’ll see the lay of the land. Never say never. I know people shouting out that BMF belt. That BMF belt would look real nice in my collection.”

Holloway (24-7) moved to lightweight to battle Poirier for the interim 155-pound title at UFC 236 but failed to avenge his previous loss to “The Diamond.” After going 0-3 against Volkanovski at featherweight, “Blessed” could make his return to 155 pounds for another run at the belt … unless the “dangerous” Rodriguez scores the upset next month in “Sin City.”