Islam Makhachev makes sarcastic remark in response to UFC booking Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje for the BMF title
Islam Makhachev doesn't seem impressed with the idea of Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje going head-to-head for the honorary BMF title. UFC president Dana White recently announced the exciting lightweight matchup as the headlining fight of UFC 291 on July 29 in Salt Lake City.
Poirier vs Gaethje 2 is OFFICIAL!
#UFC291 in Salt Lake City is going to be RIDICULOUS 🔥🔥 https://t.co/OYWxzUcJk5
The 'Baddest Motherf**ker' or the 'BMF' title is a celebratory belt that the UFC created to build a fight between Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal. After his victory over Anthony Pettis at UFC 241, Diaz proclaimed himself as the "baddest motherf**ker in the game" while calling out Gamebred. Masvidal beat Diaz at UFC 244 to win the BMF title and was its sole holder until his recent retirement.
Now that 'Gamebred' has vacated his honorary belt, the UFC wants a rematch between the two lightweight sluggers to fight for the BMF title.
While Poirier and Gaethje are widely considered highly accomplished fighters, it seems Islam Makhachev doesn't see them winning an undisputed championship title. Sarcastically quote-tweeting a fight poster by MMA Junkie, the lightweight champion wrote:
"You deserve this belt )))"
You deserve this belt ))) twitter.com/mmajunkie/stat…
Dustin Poirier previously defeated Justin Gaethje via fourth-round TKO at UFC on Fox 29 in April 2018. With both fighters coming off a win, they will run it back in a five-round main event.
Meanwhile, Islam Makhachev last defended his lightweight crown in a closely contested fight against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284. He will likely defend his title next against the winner of Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush at UFC 289.
Alexander Volkanovski wants year-end rematch against Islam Makhachev
Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski faced Islam Makhachev at UFC 284 for the lightweight title in hopes of becoming a two-division champion. The two champions gave it their all for five rounds in a high-level instant classic fight, with the Dagestani grappling savant securing a controversial unanimous decision victory.
Sooo how did you score it? 🤔
Watch Islam Makhachev vs Alexander Volkanovski again in FULL on @UFCFightPass now! https://t.co/dEZVCB91QS
While 'The Great' saw his impressive 22-fight win streak broken by Makhachev, he's eager to run it back for a rematch and wants to keep himself busy in the meantime. Volkanovski is now set to face interim featherweight champion Yair Rodriguez in a title unification bout at UFC 290.
In one of his recent YouTube videos, Alexander Volkanovski outlined when he'd like to rematch Islam Makhachev. He stated:
"I was asked after the fight, do I want to wait around for the rematch, do I want to fight at featherweight, what do I wanna do? I don’t want to wait around... I ain’t waiting. I’d rather fight featherweight and then do the rematch sometime at the end of the year... That fight’s always gonna be there... I told you I wanted to stay active, and I wasn’t lying."
Watch the full video below: