Dustin Poirier’s final fight is set, and against none other than Max Holloway. To spice things up, Holloway’s BMF belt will be on the line. It’s a matchup fans are already hyped for—but as much as everyone loves a good farewell fight, someone’s got to lose.
And if that someone ends up being Max Holloway, it could spell bigger trouble than people realize, according to UFC analyst Daniel Cormier. DC thinks it might actually hurt the value of the BMF title—and maybe even shake things up for the UFC overall.
Poirier‘s requirement for his final fight was rather simple- a legend worth running up that hill with him one last time. He is known to have asked for Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje, but the UFC could only accommodate BMF champion Holloway. So far, so good!
However, should Poirier finish Holloway and take away the BMF title, the UFC will be in the same boat as it was when Georges St-Pierre retired with the middleweight title at UFC 217. And that is what DC is most worried about.
“Dana White, Hunter Campbell, it’s a retirement fight, a loser leaves town. Dustin Porier leaves town, that’s it gone, the BMF title is gone with him”, he reminded the brass on the Good Guy/Bad Guy show.
Notably, at UFC 217, after defeating Michael Bisping, GSP walked away from the sport for good. While Robert Whittaker was declared the undisputed champion after GSP, questions were continually asked about the worthiness of the champion for a long time.
This could also be the case with the BMF title, which is already under a lot of scrutiny since its current holder got knocked out by Ilia Topuria at UFC 308 last year.
Cormier feels that the UFC should have kept this in mind before putting the belt on the line. Perhaps, Dana White would have done better to listen to Poirier’s unique idea on the subject
Poirier’s insane idea the UFC rejected
Apparently, Poirier had pitched a wild idea—a four-man, one-night tournament for his farewell— against Gaethje, Holloway, and Dan Hooker but Dana White quickly shut that down.
One-night tournaments used to be the go-to format during the early days of MMA. It’s something that continues to be an exciting prospect in the eyes of old-school fans, so much so that four out of five MMA movies in the last two decades have been based on similar premises.
According to reports, all the original UFC events used to be one-night tournaments where fighters thrice in one evening. Notably, PRIDE FC would come up with the best possible idea and host the semi-finals and the final of the tournament on the same night.
Poirier told Ariel Helwani he wanted a 10-minute first round, followed by two five-minute rounds, with the fight judged as a whole instead of round-by-round. Poirier had hoped to make this format specifically fit for a BMF tournament.
However, the UFC boss denied the idea, asserting that no athletic commission would sanction it.
