Jorge Masvidal reacts after the UFC books Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje for the vacant BMF title

By Susan Cox - July 6, 2023

Jorge Masvidal is reacting after the UFC booked Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje for the vacant BMF title.

Jorge Masvidal

Dana White and the UFC have made it official, the return of the ceremonial BMF title will take place at UFC 291 on Saturday, July 29th at the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah.

It will be Dustin Poirier (29-7 MMA) going head-to-head with Justin Gaethje (24-4 MMA) in the lightweight main event.

‘The Highlight’ and ‘The Diamond’ originally met back in April of 2018 where it was Poirier claiming victory via TKO at 0:33 of Round 4.

Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje

Gaethje, 34, most recently fought and defeated Rafael Fiziev (12-2 MMA) at UFC 286 in March of this year.

Poirier, also 34, last entered the Octagon in November of last year defeating Michael Chandler (23-8 MMA) by submission.

The ‘Baddest MotherF**ker’ title was originally created for the 2019 match between Jorge Masvidal (35-17 MMA) and Nate Diaz (21-13 MMA) at UFC 244. It was ‘Gamebred’ who would ultimately defeat Diaz via TKO to claim the ‘BMF’ award.

Jorge Masvidal, 38, retired earlier this year after his unanimous decision loss to Gilbert Burns (22-6 MMA) at UFC 287.

It was during a recent appearance with Ariel Helwani of ‘The MMA Hour’ that Masvidal shared his thoughts on the return of the BMF title:

“I love it. I love it, keep it alive. They picked the right fighters to do it, they are gonna f**king give their life. The first BMF fight, you got to see what it should be about: guys trying to kill each other and, no matter what, pushing forward. If the referee doesn’t stop that, I literally would have had to kill Nate Diaz because he was gonna keep coming, keep coming, and keep coming. I was more than ready to kill him.”

Concluding Masvidal said (h/t MMANews):

“That’s what it needs to be. When you get in there, you gotta understand, man, you gotta go for it all, you gotta put on a show for these motherf**kers around the world. I think they picked the right two candidates to do that.”

It’s obvious that Jorge Masvidal is very enthused that the ‘BMF’ title will be back in play at UFC 291 and believes the UFC picked the best fighters to get the job done.

Will you be watching UFC 291 later this month? Who’s your pick to claim the ‘BMF’ title – Poirier or Gaethje?

Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!