Ilia Topuria will look to defend his featherweight title against Max Holloway at UFC 308 on October 26th in Abu Dhabi, but he’s revealed that despite having previously called for it, his opponent’s symbolic ‘BMF’ title will not be up for grabs if he wins.
“No, the BMF title is not going to be on the line,” Topuria told MMAJunkie. “To be honest, I don’t care.
“They took that decision and at the end of the day, when I beat him, he can [remain] the BMF or [whatever] they want to call him.
“I’m just concentrating on my title defense and that’s it. I don’t care about anything else.”
It’s not clear what the reason was for the UFC keeping the ‘BMF’ title separate, though it certainly makes business sense for them given that this current fight sells itself regardless of that belt being on the line, and it keeps fan favorite Holloway relevant whether he wins or loses against Topuria.
At the same time it could also be that despite his champion status and impressive form, Topuria doesn’t yet have enough UFC fights under his belt yet to be considered for ‘BMF’ status.
So far the undefeated 27-year-old Topuria’s UFC run has been stellar, including four KO victories in seven Octagon fights so far, but up to this point the two ‘BMF’ title fights have featured established fighters with proven star-power in Jorge Masvidal, Nate Diaz, Max Holloway and Justin Gaethje, who have consistently been delivering exciting fights in the promotion for many years.
If he continues on the way he’s performed so far then there’s no doubt that Topuria will more than qualify to fight for that belt in the future, but truth be told that feels more like a side-quest anyway, as successfully defending his 145lb title for the first time and continuing to solidify his status as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport is the bigger prize.
