Anthony Smith says BMF title should stick around

Dana White has said the upcoming BMF title fight between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz will be a one-time thing, but there are some who believe making this belt a one-off will be a missed opportunity. Anthony Smith is one of those people.

Smith is on board with the BMF belt, saying that there could be fans who become just a fan of that title, and will call for more fights to happen around that title. During an appearance on MMA Tonight on Sirius XM, Smith told host Ryan McKinnell that it would be a “huge miss” if the UFC only made it a one-time thing.

🔊 "You may end up with a bunch of fans that are just fans of the BMF belt" – @lionheartasmith w/@RyanMcKinnell on why he'd like to see the #BMF belt be more than a one-off. 👊🎙️
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— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) October 17, 2019

“I don’t know if this is going to be a one-off, I think it would be a huge miss if it was, cause I think you can create a whole other thing here. There’s a whole other thing that people want to fight for. If they keep it around, I’m in, I would love to have some crazy fight, like me and Thiago [Santos] could fight for that title once a month. Remember back in the day they used to do the superfights, they just give one big belt, you never had to defend it, that was like the superfight title, I feel like the BMF belt could be something like that.

It doesn’t always have to make sense, like the rankings don’t always have to make sense at the time, maybe it’s not even about a title implication or anything like that. Sometimes it’s just a fight you want to see for no reason.”

When Smith was asked if believes the ‘BMF’ title would take precedent over the actual UFC titles, “Lionheart” didn’t have any concerns.

“I don’t think so. I think it could get confusing to some people, but I think you already have fans who are fans of the champions and the sport in general, then you create a title that fans are super pumped for that. You almost create a whole other niche group that you can grow separately from the regular group. You may just end up with fans who are just fans of the ‘BMF’ belt.”

While Smith makes solid points about how the ‘BMF’ belt could grow more fans with the UFC, not all fighters are sharing the same mindset as him. Fighters such as Kevin Lee, Al Iaquinta, and current Bellator lightweight Benson Henderson, have all criticized the UFC for making the ‘BMF’ belt.

Nate Diaz, who can be credited for making the fight against Masvidal and the ‘BMF’ title actually come to fruition, has fired back at critics who are against it. The UFC also announced that Hollywood star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will present the title to Jorge Masvidal if “Gamebred” is victorious at UFC 244.

Do you think the ‘BMF’ title is a good or bad thing for the UFC?