by Kamaru Usman believes that when the story of the BMF title is told, his name should be part of the narrative.
Usman discussed the BMF title on his podcast with Henry Cejudo and asked fans why they value the championship – currently held by Max Holloway – so highly.
“Guys, why are we talking about this like it’s a real title? That’s not it,” Usman continued Pounds 4 pounds. “That was a hypothesis that was invented because of me. It was invented because of me.”
The former welterweight world champion says when the BMF belt was introduced to the world at UFC 244, the original fight the UFC brought to the table was Usman vs. Colby Covington. But the fight didn’t happen – leading to UFC CEO Dana White creating the BMF title, which Nate Diaz claimed in a nod to Jorge Masvidal, who recently knocked out Ben Askren in record time at UFC 239 in July 2019.
When asked by Cejudo to elaborate, Usman says that had he defended his welterweight title against Covington that night in November 2019, history would have been different.
“Covington [and I] were supposed to fight at MSG, New York,” Usman explained. “The fight didn’t happen. They needed a fight to headline this card, they needed something with some oomph. This is MSG, you can’t just put any battle card on MSG. If you go to MSG, you must be right. …
“What’s the hottest ticket out there? Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal – the hottest smoke. Then of course there is Nate Diaz with his mystique that he always carries with him. … Nate Diaz had already called out Masvidal after his previous fight. …Dana jumps up, how do we promote this fight? Let’s create this, alright. He is called the Baddest Mother in the Belt. Come on, are you serious?”
Masvidal would win the fight via doctor’s TKO and was awarded the BMF title by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
