Kamaru Usman credits himself for the creation of the BMF title.
First introduced in 2019, the BMF title was a makeshift bragging rights belt developed to determine who the “baddest motherf*cker” truly was between Octagon fan favorites Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz during their UFC 244 headliner in Madison Square Garden.
Since then, the BMF title has taken on a life of its own and has seen multiple holders, including Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway, but according to former welterweight world champion Kamaru Usman, he’s the one responsible for the creation of the fictitious title.
”Why are we talking about this like this is a real title? It’s not,” Usman said on the Pound-4-Pound podcast. “This was a hypothetical that was made up because of me. Let’s not forget that myself and Covington were supposed to fight in MSG in New York. The fight didn’t happen… They needed a fight to headline that card. They needed something with some steam. It’s MSG. You can’t just put any fight card at MSG.
“So, at that point, what’s the hottest ticket out there? Jorge ‘Gamebred’ Masvidal… Of course, you have Nate Diaz… Dana jumps on, ‘How do we promote this fight? Let’s create this, alright, it’s called the baddest motherf’er belt…’ Come on. Are you serious? That’s why it started” (h/t Sportskeeda).
No BMF Titleholder has ever won a fight inside the Octagon
After claiming the BMF belt against Diaz, ‘Gamebred’ never once defended the crown, nor did he win a single fight. Masvidal ultimately walked away from the UFC in 2023 amid a four-fight losing skid, vacating the BMF title in the process.
The title was reintroduced at UFC 291 when Justin Gaethje rematched Dustin Poirier in one of the most anticipated fights of the summer. ‘The Highlight’ ended up making a highlight out of Poirier, scoring a brutal second-round head-kick KO to take home the belt.
In April 2024, Gaethje became the first fighter to defend the title when he met former featherweight king Max Holloway at UFC 300. ‘Blessed’ landed a buzzer-beating KO to win the bout and the belt.
Holloway has not yet defended the BMF title, but he recently suffered his first career loss by knockout against reigning 145-pound champion Ilia Topuria at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.
Interestingly, BMF titleholders are 0-6 inside the Octagon after winning the belt. Perhaps becoming the UFC’s designated “baddest motherf*cker” isn’t such a good thing after all.