Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC
Welterweight contenders Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz will not be competing for an official world title this November at UFC 244 in New York City, but the two fan favorites will duke it out for the “Baddest Motherf—ker’ belt.
It seems cool, especially since UFC president Dana White is actually going to make real ‘BMF’ belt to wrap around the winner’s waist, but it could be setting UFC back in legitimizing the sport of MMA.
That’s according to former UFC women’s bantamweight champion and current ONE Championship Vice President Miesha Tate, who believes that UFC is taking a page out of the book of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) by inventing a belt that actually means nothing
“It really does marry that WWE feeling to the UFC in a way that’s never been done before,” Tate recently told Sirius XM’s Fight Nation (h/t @The People’s MMA).
“Start putting the belt around people who are not [the best], then what does the belt mean, exactly?”
Tate does have a point and it’s pretty obvious. Diaz and Masvidal are not world champions. Heck, neither fighter is even considered the best at 170 pounds and they may never be.
That said, fight fans are pretty smart. Even though the ‘BMF’ belt is comparable to some of the many titles offered up in predetermined WWE action, combat viewers understand what’s going on and can draw the line when real strikes are thrown and landed.
Diaz and Masvidal are two of the most willing and capable brawlers in the sport today. They’ll fight anyone at the drop of a dime and exude unwavering confidence the entire time. That’s what makes them two of the baddest men on the planet and why White is willing to make a one-off belt for their battle this November.
Still, Tate likely is not alone in her assessment. Fans of the sport, along with fighters who have been training hard and winning fights in effort to land their own shot at a belt, might look at this ‘BMF’ booking as a simple cash grab. That may in fact be the case, but when it involves athletes like Diaz and Masvidal it becomes harder to knock.
What say you, Maniacs? Does this whole ‘BMF’ thing make UFC look like WWE?
Sound off!