Do you know how feuds begin in the fight game? Well, something like what happened recently! Former featherweight and current BMF champion Max Holloway had not too long ago claimed on his YouTube channel that the Baddest Motherf—ker title was a laughing stock before he got his hands on it by defeating Justin Gaethje. And journalist Ariel Helwani heard it loud and clear.
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So when Helwani sat down with Jorge Masvidal, the inaugural BMF title holder, for an interview on his show, he quickly brought up Max Holloway‘s statement. Helwani asked, “What do you make of that…,” claiming, “You were the one who put it on the map.” And as you may have guessed, the 41-year-old had to respond.
Jorge Masvidal is open to facing Max Holloway
“I love Max as a fighter,” Masvidal began, appearing unbothered by the remarks. “That’s his opinion. I think he’s one of the best to ever do it.” Masvidal gave Holloway his flowers, praising the former featherweight champion for his skills inside the octagon. However, the tone of humility slowly began to fade.
“But [if] it had been me or Nate fighting Max, it wasn’t going to be his best night either,” Masvidal added. “I would love to fight Max just as a stylistic matchup. I think he’s a great stand-up fighter—I just think I’m better. I don’t know what he means by ‘laughing stock.’” Masvidal, of course, won the inaugural BMF title in 2019 by defeating Nate Diaz.
He went on to hold on to the belt until his retirement in 2023. ‘Gamebred’ hasn’t competed in MMA since then, aside from a boxing match against Diaz in 2024, which he lost. Regardless, the snippet of the interview quickly caught Holloway’s attention on X. ‘Blessed’ immediately clarified his stance while accusing Ariel Helwani of trying to start a feud.
I meant people was saying it was a ‘laughing stock’ and one of them people was you @arielhelwani Stop trying to start shit your 43 years old dude
Jorge Masvidal responds to Max Holloway calling the BMF belt a 'laughing stock' before he held it: “I love Max as a fighter — that’s his opinion. I think he’s one of the best to ever do it. He’s a dog when he goes in there, but whether it had been me or Nate fighting Max, it
“I meant people was saying it was a ‘laughing stock’ and one of them people was you @arielhelwani,” Holloway wrote. “Stop trying to start s—t your 43 years old dude.” Notably, since winning the belt, ‘Blessed’ has lost a fight to Ilia Topuria and hasn’t competed since his win over Dustin Poirier back in July last year.
But you know what’s interesting, while Helwani is trying to start a feud using the BMF belt, he previously didn’t even want it to exist.
Ariel Helwani wanted the BMF belt to be retired
In 2024, Helwani believed the BMF title should have been retired the moment it was created. Introduced in 2019 as a one-off gimmick for Jorge Masvidal vs. Nate Diaz at UFC 244, the belt served its purpose that night but, in Helwani’s view, has since outlived its relevance.
“He was the king of the welterweights, and the people who were fighting for the BMF title weren’t in title contention just yet,” Helwani said, explaining that the belt felt like a workaround for fighters not competing for real championships. He added that the concept undermines divisional champions.
“If I’m Islam Makhachev… I’m the baddest MFer at 155.” According to Helwani, the belt created a “secondary division within the division” and “should have ended with the Masvidal fight in MSG.”
When Ariel Helwani tried to use the belt to start a new rivalry, he might not have thought Holloway was going to remember his comments about the belt. But he did. So, what do you make of Helwani’s attempt?
