Justin Gaethje will defend his “BMF” title against former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight champion, Max Holloway, at UFC 300 this weekend (Sat., April 13, 2024) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
And it’s going to be violent … very, very violent.
“Highlight” is only the second man to ever hold the distinction of the gimmick title (more on its origin here), the other being Jorge Masvidal.
But, would UFC ever create a female version of the “BMF” belt?
According to former UFC women’s Strawweight champion, Jessica Andrade, she would be interested — and honored — to compete for a similar manufactured title if Dana White and Co. were to expand the ego-driven opportunity.
“I was talking yesterday about this very subject,” Andrade said during UFC 300 Media Day (via MMA Junkie). “I was like, ‘What if UFC actually had a BMF for the women? I just don’t consider myself like all these names in such tough fighters who I would be considered in this category.’ And he told me, ‘Are you kidding me? You’re crazy. You just go out there and put on bangers. You’re always just swinging for the fences.’”
As far as the opposite side of the first-ever female “BMF” equation, Andrade didn’t hesitate to give her thoughts on who she thinks is more than qualified for the exclusive distinction.
“I would love to have that opportunity — that would be really cool,” she said. “I’m just thinking of who would be the opponent because you’ve got Valentina Shevchenko. You have Zhang Weili. You have Amanda Nunes … if she decided to come back. Angela Hill … it would be an amazing thing. I hope that UFC consider me in the pool of candidates for something like that – it would be really awesome if the UFC had a BMF female.”
Andrade has long competed against some of UFC’s best female fighters across multiple divisions, including Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Rose Namajunas, Weili and Shevchenko, among others. She most recently defeated Mackenzie Dern via knockout to snap her three-fight losing streak (see it again here).
She will now look to make it two straight when she takes on Marina Rodriguez on UFC 300’s early “Prelims” undercard, and in the process, secure an impressive enough win to strengthen her case for a potential “BMF” title fight.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 300 fight card right RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the UFC 300 PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 300: “Pereira vs. Hill” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive UFC 300 event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 300 fight card and PPV lineup click here.