Dan Hooker thinks the “BMF” belt does a disservice to the Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje fight.
Poirier (29-7 MMA, 21-6 UFC) and Gaethje (24-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) will battle for the vacant “BMF” title on July 29 in the UFC 291 headliner, which takes place at Delta Center in Salt Lake City and airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
Poirier and Gaethje are considered two of the most violent fighters, but Hooker doesn’t see the value of the “BMF” title.
“That’s why it’s a little bit of a silly fight, you know what I mean?” Hooker said on Israel Adesanya’s YouTube channel. “We’re prizefighters at the end of the day. Nah. What does it actually mean though?”
Hooker says he would fight for the “BMF” title if he was offered the opportunity, simply because of the financial perks that come with it.
“Of course I’d take it because there’s money that comes with it, which is the main objective of doing it,” Hooker said. “But having a BMF title and hanging that on my wall and being proud of that is not the same as a world title. I’d probably put it under the bed or something like that.”
Hooker, who meets Jalin Turner at UFC 290 on July 8, fought Poirier before in 2020. He was outlasted in a memorable Fight of the Night battle that snapped his three-fight winning streak.
“Dustin’s just a fun guy to fight,” Hooker said. “He makes it too fun and sucks you into that game. I can watch the Gaethje fight and it’s the exact same thing. He’s just like a fun guy to fight, a fun guy to get in a fight with, which is a weird thing. He’s just a fun person to fight and you get distracted about all of that and get sucked into the fight. It’s just fun.”
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Dan Hooker: ‘BMF’ belt makes Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje ‘a little bit of a silly fight’