Former double champion Daniel Cormier has been slammed online for suggesting that one of UFC 300s big winners deserves a shot at the BMF belt.
From suggesting referee Herb Dean made a mistake in the UFC 300 main event to the promotion creating a new 165lb division for Conor McGregor, the fan-favorite fighter-turned-commentator has been in the headlines in recent weeks; and fans understandably aren’t happy with his latest comments either.
The BMF title might not be up for grabs until 2025
Whilst Max Holloway was able to take possession of the BMF title at UFC 300 with a spectacular last-second KO of Justin Gaethje, ‘Blessed’ is under no obligation to put the strap up for grabs in his next bout – expected to be against Ilia Topuria later this year.
The featherweight champion himself made headlines last week when he suggested that he’d only be willing to face Holloway if the BMF belt was available to win: “He’s got that BMF belt so I’m excited to add that belt to my legacy too… Without the BMF belt, I don’t want him at all.”
Holloway responded by stating “That’s not very BMF, that’s kind of un-BMF, a BMF fights whatever, whoever, whenever…That’s not a tone of a [real] BMF.”
Should the BMF belt remain on Holloway’s mantlepiece until after his featherweight title shot, Daniel Cormier has claimed there’s one fighter who deserves to step in for the silver-plated belt next.
Daniel Cormier claims Aljamain Sterling deserves BMF title shot
Speaking on the latest episode of the Good Guy Bad Guy podcast, via the ESPN MMA YouTube channel, Cormier noted that wrestling hasn’t been a notable component of any of the three BMF title fights that we’ve witnessed so far in the octagon.
Whilst that is true, and none of the five fighters who have fought for the BMF belt so far are particularly well-known for their grappling, Cormier took it one step further when he suggested the ‘Funk Master’ deserved to fight for the silver-plated strap next:
“I don’t think we’ve seen one takedown attempt in three BMF title fights, we haven’t seen a takedown attempt, [and] nobody is wrestling. Could you imagine – You want me to tell you who I think should be in the next BMF title fight, Aljamain Sterling…Put Aljamain Sterling in the BMF title fight – Yes!”
“If anybody is a BMF then you do what Alja did at UFC 300, you go up a weight class and you dominate somebody, and with grappling like that, that’s a BMF,” said the former double champion, before reiterating to a shocked Ryan Clark and Chael Sonnen that the UFC should “put Aljo in the next title fight.”
To his credit, Clark wasn’t having any of this and took the opportunity to call out Cormier for such a statement:
“No, absolutely not! You know what that is DC? That’s a Boring M***** F*****, that’s what that is. That’s what we’re going to call that, that’s what the BMF would stand for if Aljamain Sterling was the new BMF champion.”
Cormier slammed by fans in response to BMF title suggestion
Whilst Sterling is one of the best grapplers in the UFC and has proven himself on the world stage multiple times over, the suggestion that ‘Funk Master’ could fight for the BMF title has understandably not gone over well with the community.
Another fan responded: “I hope this is a joke. After that pathetic performance of Aljo holding Kattar down with 0 submission attempts or ground and pound he deserves a prelim fight in bellator.”
“That’s the whole Point of bmf. Unspoken agreement to standup and strike. Fight IQ out the window, CTE level 1000 and kill or be killed. Otherwise, it’s just a standard fight for a championship title. There’s a reason the 3 fights we’ve had included certain fighters,” said another perplexed commenter.
The UFC returns to action this weekend with UFC Vegas 91, headlined by Alex Perez stepping in on short notice to face top flyweight contender Matheus Nicolau.