Getty Image / Chris Unger
UFC fans will see Jorge Masvidal in the cage for the first time in a year when he meets Gilbert Burns at UFC 287.
For the pay-per-view matchup, Burns had just one request.
He wants Masvidal’s BMF belt on the line for a 5-round “title” fight.
Come on @danawhite April 8 has to be 5 rounds! Put that belt on the line! Everybody knows It’s only one guy in the @ufc that fights ANYONE! #ufc287 pic.twitter.com/XRYhB2phLP
— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) January 30, 2023
Unfortunately, Masvidal turned down that request in a very un-BMFlike move in a recent appearance on The MMA Hour.
Jorge Masvidal responds to Gilbert Burns calling for the BMF title to be on the line at UFC 287 🏆 #TheMMAHour
“If they pay me BMF money. UFC ain’t going to up the money so, sorry Gilbert.”
▶️ https://t.co/exUGTJ3qJj pic.twitter.com/0uHtXdL35A
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) January 30, 2023
The belt was clearly created as a gimmick at the time to try and sell more pay-per-views. When Masvidal met Nate Diaz in the cage, Diaz was 4-4 in his previous 8 fights and had only stepped in the cage once in the previous 3 years.
Masvidal was 2-2 in his previous 4.
There is also a big question about how you can call either of them the BMF when the organization’s heavyweight champion is widely referred to as the “baddest man on the planet”.
Still, you would think Masvidal and the UFC would have tried harder to legitimize the belt since he won it.
This is Masvidal’s 4th fight since winning the BMF belt. The belt wasn’t on the line in any of his last 3. He lost all 3 of them. He even got knocked out cold in one of those fights and somehow still retained the title of “BMF”.
At this point, UFC fans are going to just have to accept that we’ll probably never see the BMF belt on the line again.