UFC 291: How to make the BMF title actually meaningful after Dustin Poirier vs Justin Gaethje 2

The BMF championship could be so much more than a ceremonial prize

Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje are set to run back their 2018 Fight of the Year at UFC 291 in Salt Lake City on Saturday. While the first meeting did not have a title at stake, the rematch puts the ceremonial "BMF" title on the line. The "championship" has no matchmaking or confirmed contractual value. It's an empty prize for two fighters who have already earned their reputations as warriors several times over. But it could be so much more.

Poirier and Gaethje are undoubtedly some of the baddest men on the planet. The pair have written the record books with all-action affairs that have earned them plenty of post-fight bonuses. The silver prize will be strapped around Saturday's winner by inaugural BMF titleholder Jorge Masvidal. The retired athlete defeated Nate Diaz, another all-action fan-favorite, at UFC 244 in New York's Madison Square Garden. The genesis of the BMF championship begins with Diaz and that gives the belt a unique charm.

"When Nate did his interview that night, he basically said 'this is for the 'Baddest Mother F---er' in the game,'" UFC president Dana White said of the title's origins during a UFC 244 press conference in 2019. "So, you know, this is one of those fights that, after that interview, started to build a life of its own through the fans and the media. We didn't seriously start talking about this fight until maybe a couple of weeks later in a matchmaking meeting."

The UFC has a one-foot-in, one-foot-out approach with the BMF title. It was originally intended as a one-off but has since been revived with the flimsy excuse of Masvidal's retirement. Masvidal never defended the belt, nor was he acknowledged as an active champion, so there was never a title to vacate despite the fact that he then lost the next four fights to close out his career. Now that we've arrived at The Book of BMF, Chapter II, it's time to give the belt a proper legacy and figure out how to make this a meaningful title.

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It fits the bill

The UFC loves to promote big PPV events with a championship on the line, even in instances where it is gratuitous. They'll book champion vs. champion super fights in divisions with deserving contenders, schedule interim titles even if a champion is relatively active, and allow retired former champions to jump the queue. But why are we only committing halfway? The UFC has a hefty event quota to meet with events nearly every weekend and PPVs usually once a month. The BMF championship doesn't need to be defended every time, but it might as well be featured more consistently. Regular, lineal BMF fights could give the title a unique reputation. The more it's slapped onto random fights every three years, the more it'll lose any semblance of meaning. Besides, Masvidal fought for the UFC welterweight championship immediately after winning the BMF title and the winner of Poirier-Gaethje 2 will be on the lightweight shortlist. It's a strong start to defining the championship not only as an all-action title, but one that is generally fought for by the sport's elite.

Giving fighters a second lease on life

There may be no stronger candidate for a BMF division than Max Holloway, a fighter who has made the move to lightweight in the past. "Blessed" remains the second-best fighter in his weight class but three losses to UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski have gridlocked him from the title. Holloway is not getting a UFC featherweight title shot until Volkanovski is dethroned and it doesn't look like that is happening anytime soon.

Volkanovski's reign over the featherweight division presents the opportunity for a number of exciting fighters to temporarily pivot, including: Yair Rodriguez, Brian Ortega, Josh Emmett, Calvin Kattar and "The Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung.

The lightweight division is chock-full of talented fighters who have thus far fallen short at the championship level. Poirier and Gaethje are among them, as are Michael Chandler, Rafael Fiziev, Dan Hooker and Jalin Turner.

An argument could be made that UFC's real BMF is Jim Miller. The 54-fight veteran has carved out a career so unique it has fans and analysts arguing what constitutes a Hall of Famer. Miller never has been or will be a UFC champion. What he has is the most wins and fights in UFC history, the most finishes in lightweight history, and shocking longevity in one of MMA's most shark-infested divisions. No one is calling for Miller to fight opponents the caliber of Poirier or Gaethje, but spotlighting aging veterans is one of UFC's few matchmaking weaknesses. The BMF title could be exactly what our sport's heroes need: another chance at glory.

Dream matchups come to life

The beauty of defending the BMF championship across weight classes is the potential for unique matchups that circumnavigate meritocratic expectations and an endless combination of possibilities. We're never getting Brandon Moreno vs. Charles Oliveira, but having fighters move up and down a weight class means that -- in theory -- the BMF title could work its way to any division. That's a novel concept when you consider the sheer quantity of all-action UFC fighters on the roster: from flyweight's Brandon Royval and bantamweight's Cory Sandhagen to welterweight contender Vicente Luque.

Gaethje told CBS Sports that a dream fight with Holloway intrigues him. Sandhagen named featherweight Yair Rodriguez, flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja and Moreno as ideal BMF fights. Even White has claimed that the BMF mythos is popular among the roster.

"You have no idea how many of these fighters want to fight for the BMF title," White said during a press conference in May. "They all want to fight for that belt. It's fun, it's different, so we'll do it again."