Gilbert Burns is already booked to fight Jorge Masvidal at UFC 287 on March 8th, but now he wants to raise the stakes by getting the promotion to make it a five-rounder and put ‘Gamebred’s’ ‘BMF’ title on the line.
“Come on @danawhite April 8 has to be 5 rounds!” Burns wrote on Twitter. “Put that [BMF] belt on the line! Everybody knows It’s only one guy in the @ufc that fights ANYONE! #ufc287.”
The BMF (Bad MotherF***er) title was a one-off belt that was put up for the winner of a fight between Masvidal and Nate Diaz back in 2019, which ‘Gamebred’ won by third round TKO due to a doctor’s stoppage.
The UFC have shown little interest in making use of the title again in the years since, and responding to Burns call for it to be resurrecting, Masvidal doesn’t appear to be particularly eager to defend it either.
“[If] they pay me BMF money, which the UFC ain’t going to pup it up for more money, so sorry Gilbert,” Masvidal said on The MMA Hour show. “I already got my contract. I already signed my shit. I could give a f–k less,” said Masvidal, who recently parted ways with his longtime management team.
“Three rounds is more than enough that I need for Gilbert. I like all the publicity and extra that he’s putting into it, but brother, three rounds is all I need for that.”
Masvidal is coming off three losses in a row against Kamaru Usman (twice) and Colby Covington, and some have suggested that Burns high-level grappling could also be a headache for the striker, but ‘Gambred’ insists that he’s relishing the challenge.
“I’m glad it’s a guy like Gilbert. … I’ve been in this sport, and it’s only been to fight the best of the best of the best in the world, and he’s perfect in a lot of ways for me to test my grappling, because I know he’s going to come test me in grappling.
“I know he’s going to talk a big game that he’s going to come and strike with me and all this BMF shit, but at the end of the day, I’m ‘Gamebred,’ he’s Gilbert, he’s going to go for the takedown, 100 miles per hour and hope that he gets in, and if that fails, he’ll come strike with me.
“So I’m going to be prepared to grapple him, and the next and the next and the next, because I know I’ve got the hands to beat all these guys. I’ve got the knees and elbows that change lives in seconds. I’ve just got to fine-tune a couple things, and I’ve been working on it.”
