Chael Sonnen shines light on BMF title’s rise as Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway prepare for UFC 318

Former interim UFC lightweight champion Dustin Poirier will enter the cage for the final time as a competitor at UFC 318 in July.

Across the octagon from him will be the perfect opponent for his farewell fight - former opponent and fellow legend Max Holloway. The two put together two of the most exciting and competitive bouts in UFC history.

What makes this upcoming bout more anticipated is the fact that Holloway's ceremonial "Baddest Motherf***er" (BMF) belt will be on the line. The BMF belt has eluded Dustin Poirier's illustrious career, failing to capture it against Justin Gaethje back in 2023. Holloway, in turn, won the belt against Gaethje in a classic late-fight KO last year.

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To UFC legend and renowned analyst Chael Sonnen, this fight should spark interest in the BMF belt once again, saying:

"If [Dustin] Poirier is able to grab it [BMF title] and move on, I would certainly hope that we don't retire the belt. That belt is very coveted. And it's very sought after by some guys that have worked very hard and sacrificed very hard to try to have a level of recognition or something that they can be proud of, when they're done."

He continues:

"So regardless of how Dustin and Max [Holloway] goes, I will campaign now that the BMF live on. If Dustin were to win it, it would create a great opportunity to move the belt. We could have it at 205 pounds, we could have it at heavyweight. We could slide it over to the women's division."

Listen to Sonnen here:

Dustin Poirier explains why he chose Max Holloway over Justin Gaethje for final fight

In the months leading to the Poirier-Holloway 3 announcement, speculations circulated about 'The Diamond' choosing Justin Gaethje for his farewell bout. Dustin Poirier and 'The Highlight' scored KOs against each other and it made sense to close out the rivalry with a trilogy fight.

However, the Louisiana native saw Max Holloway as a more viable option. He explained his thought process behind this decision in an interview with MMA Junkie on YouTube (0:51):

"I was asking Hunter in the UFC for Gaetjhe because we're one-and-one, I wanted to close out that trilogy. For some reason they really wanted this fight [against Holloway] so I said okay, that's cool because I respect the guy from my last fight. I don't know what their thought process was of putting this together for me and Max but I have a lot of respect for him so it made sense to me."

Listen to Dustin Poirier here:

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Duane is an expert MMA writer at Sportskeeda with over 10 years of experience working for the likes of Philippine Star, Esquire Philippines, Playboy Philippines, etc. A major in English, he has written over 2000 articles for Sportskeeda section, extensively covering UFC and boxing fights.

Duane is a practicing MMA fighter with a 11-7 record. He is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt and trains Muay Thai. His connection with MMA dates back to 2005, when he turned into a fan after watching Fedor Emelianenko defeat Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic at Pride FC - Final Conflict 2005.

Emelianenko finds himself right at the top of Duane’s Mt. Rushmore of MMA fighters, alongside other big names like Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, and Anderson Silva.

Duane’s love for the sport is reflected in his writings, where he believes in speculating but not insinuating. He uses his intensive knowledge and skills in MMA to provide unique insights to the readers, along with sourcing information only from reliable sources.

Outside of work, Duane enjoys martial arts training, visual arts, film criticism, video games, and creative writing.

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Edited by Yash Singh