"There’s a lot of top-notch gentlemen" - Stephen Thompson suggests creation of new championship belt, in contrast to BMF title
UFC welterweight Stephen Thompson suggested the creation of an 'NMF' belt.
The NMF belt would be the opposite of the symbolic BMF belt and stand for 'Nicest MotherF****r.' In a recent interview with InsideFighting, Thompson was asked for his top picks to challenge for the NMF title across weight classes.
Thompson named himself and Vicente Luque as the original contestants for the belt when the term was first coined ahead of their UFC 244 matchup.
"To fight for the NMF? Oh man, there’s a bunch of nice guys out there. I mean, top of the list – cause it was between me and Vicente Luque at first, and whoever won that fight ended up getting the NMF belt from Ariel Helwani. I ended up winning, obviously, but he was definitely a really nice guy. I think he deserved it."
Thompson went on to name Robert Whittaker, Tom Aspinall, Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier and maintained that there were several other fighters on the UFC roster worthy of the title.
"Robert Whittaker, for sure, at 185, definitely an NMF. Heavyweight … Aspinall’s a nice guy, I believe. I think he deserves an NMF belt as well. Let’s go down to 155. I mean, right now, obviously, Max Holloway at this point; he’s moved up. Dustin Poirier for sure. I can go on and on. There’s a lot of top-notch gentlemen in the UFC in every weight class."
Check out Stephen Thompson's full comments below on YouTube (3:22):
When Stephen Thompson received the NMF belt from Ariel Helwani and a callout from Conor McGregor
Ahead of his UFC 244 fight against Vicente Luque, Stephen Thompson claimed the NMF title and in the aftermath of his win, was presented the title by Ariel Helwani.
Check out Ariel Helwani presenting Stephen Thompson with the NMF belt on The MMA Hour:
UFC superstar Conor McGregor immediately laid claim to the NMF title and received a belated response from 'Wonderboy.' Thompson gladly welcomed the challenge to defend his unofficial NMF belt against 'The Notorious.'
He wrote:
"It was AWESOME receiving the #nmfbelt from @arielhelwani and @paradigmsm today!! And @thenotoriousmma it would be HONOR to go toe to toe with the best in the bizz for the NMF belt good sir...or should I say... MOTHERBUDDY!!"
Check out Thompson's post on Instagram below: