At the UFC 302 post-fight press conference, Dana White teased that the ball is moving regarding the next BMF title fight for Max ‘Blessed’ Holloway.
Even after Islam Makhachev earned a fifth-round submission victory over Dustin Poirier, UFC President Dana White shot down any notion of the lightweight champion fighting for Max Holloway’s BMF belt next, as he shared that negotiations have now started behind the scenes.
Dana White confirms talks have started on next BMF title fight
Speaking at the UFC 302 post-fight press conference, Dana White confirmed that following his dramatic capturing of the silver-plated strap at UFC 300, the promotion is now starting to figure out the next fight for Max Holloway and the BMF title lineage.
“We’re working on the BMF title right now,” White told reporters, before being asked if Ilia Topuria irritated him by threatening to overlook Max Holloway unless the BMF title is also put up for grabs alongside his featherweight strap.
“No, it doesn’t rub me [the wrong way] at all, I love that people love that belt and want to fight for it – I love it.
“Yeah, we’re working on a lot of stuff right now, obviously we’ve got The Sphere coming up, we’ve got Madison Square Garden, we got a lot of big fights coming up around that time, we’ll get it figured out.”
Aside from the highly anticipated clash against ‘El Matador’, there are likely only a few routes that ‘Blessed’ could take regarding his next potential BMF opponents: a rematch against Conor McGregor, should he defeat Michael Chandler later this month, or (and on the speculative side), a rematch with Dustin Poirier.
Interestingly, Poirier was asked about the possibility of facing Holloway for the BMF title at the UFC 302 post-fight press conference following his stoppage loss to Makhachev.
“I don’t know, we got to see – Max is a tough dude, I’m a big fan and I’ve got a lot of respect for him as well, he’s a good dude.”
White doesn’t want to see Makhachev fight for the BMF title
Whilst Dana White failed to give anything away as to who the UFC is plotting to face Max Holloway, or when the next BMF title fight could take place, he did shoot down any notion of lightweight champion Islam Makhachev getting that opportunity.
“But you know, Islam is one of the greatest fighters in the world ever in that division and one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters in the world, so I don’t think he’d be fighting for the BMF.
“The Tsarukyan fight, that’s the fight that we want to do.”
Unfortunately for Makhachev, this might be a case of his words coming back to haunt him; as the 155lb king slammed the UFC for booking Holloway vs Gaethje for what he called a “useless belt.”
“I don’t want to make people upset, but this is a useless fight for a useless belt,” he told MMAJunkie earlier this year, adding that “Nobody gains anything from this fight.”
Makhachev previously claimed that the now-iconic clash between Holloway and Gaethje was a ‘nothing’ fight, for either his own status as undisputed champion or the division as a whole.
“This fight for me, it’s nothing. For the fans, it’s going to be a good fight. They both like to give damage, like to fight, like to box always. But for me, and for the [lightweight] division, the fight means nothing.”
Back to the potential rematch against Arman Tsarukyan as the next defense of the lightweight title, and Makhachev also moved away from the idea of facing his former foe, in favor of finding fresh blood.
Speaking at the UFC 302 post-fight press conference, Makhachev demanded that Dana White give him “a new challenge” as a rematch against Tsarukyan “does not make sense.”
Given White’s comments and the UFC’s summer schedule now in full flight, fans can expect more updates on Max Holloway’s next bout within the coming weeks.