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There's a new, possibly crazy idea for the UFC lightweight division that's has been floating around lately - and UFC president Dana White might be on board with it. In a post-fight presser at a recent Dana White's Contender Series episode, the visionary fight promoter was asked what he thought of a four-man tournament for the BMF belt as proposed by Dustin Poirier.
The idea proposed involved Poirier, Justin Gaethje, Max Holloway, and Dan Hooker competing in a one-night tournament to determine the new UFC "Baddest Motherf*cker" (BMF) champ.
On this intriguing idea, White said:
"Sounds fun. Never thought about it but yeah, I love it."
Popular stand-up comedian and long-time MMA fan Theo Von is also very much on board with the idea, tweeting:
"Lets goooo"
History of Dana White's attempts at UFC tournaments explored
The tournament idea was made public when Dustin Poirier proposed it while in an interview with MMA on Sirius XM, in which he also detailed his immediate plans for his career's forseeable future.
MMA media personality RJ Clifford made a post summarizing the interview on X:
"Highlights from Dustin Poirier on @MMAonSiriusXM: Getting reconstructive nose surgery. Out 8 weeks. Lafayette talked about but unlikely. New Orleans a real possibility late 2025. Opponents have been proposed but nothing he can discuss. Has 5-6 more fights in him but won't put his body thru that. 6-7 more fights left on his UFC contract. Wants to do a one night, four man BMF tournament with [Justin] Gaethje, Max [Holloway] and [Dan] Hooker"
Although the UFC hasn't done one-night tournaments since the 90s, Dana White has conducted Grand Prix-style tournaments which transpired through multiple events. In the early 2000s the UFC put together a lightweight tournament which happened at UFC 39 and UFC 41, concluding in a draw between BJ Penn and Caol Uno.
Nearly a decade after that, the promotion introduced a new flyweight world title by having a four-man tournament which spilled through three events. The finals was between Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez at UFC 152, which 'Mighty Mouse' won to become the promotion's inaugural 125-pound champ.
While Dana White hasn't explored a one-night tournament since acquiring the UFC in the 2000s, the mythical nature of the BMF title might convince him to revive the long-dead format. The very conception of the BMF belt was supposed to be a one-off gimmick, after all. So why not an old-school UFC tournament to go with it?
