UFC megastar Conor McGregor has been offered a shot at the belt in his return to the sport.
No, it's not for the official lightweight or welterweight straps.
Instead, ‘Baddest Mother F***er’ title holder Jorge Masvidal has thrown down the gauntlet in what would be a huge comeback fight for the Irishman.
But there's a catch – fan favourite Masvidal wants a big-money bet on the line as well.
Masvidal put his name into the hat, along with many others, to be the first man to face McGregor on his UFC return, going as far to claim that he would send him back onto the injury list.
Advert
To up the stakes he says he will defend his custom-made BMF title belt, and wants the pair to make the fight a winner-takes-all cash wager.
He told BlockAsset: “I’d bring out the BMF belt only for a bad motherf***er and some cash money.
“You a bad motherf***er and you got some money? Let’s put some money. Let’s get a little escrow going, you know?
"I put a couple million aside, you put a couple million aside, and it comes with the belt. It’s a cherry on top.
"That’s what a bad motherfucker would do is get this money.
"So it’s there, you know, but it has to be right, under my stipulations and with that belt, I’m like a f***ing tyrant.”
Masvidal took home the ‘Baddest Mother F***er’ belt after defeating Nate Diaz at UFC 244.
Diaz had proclaimed himself the ‘baddest motherf***er in the game’, and after the fight was scheduled Dana White announced that the celebratory belt had been made for the bout.
Since then, Masvidal has lost all three of his following bouts with two losses to Kamaru Usman and most recently to bitter rival Colby Covington.
Luckily for him, the BMF belt was never on the line.
However, Masvidal seems to think it’ll be the way to goad McGregor into a matchup, a fight he believes he would absolutely pummel the Irishman in.
He told SunSport: “I don’t think he’s going to fight period again, I definitely don’t think he fights after me.
“Just like I was a cancer to Nate Diaz’s style and brand, because he’s like this tough guy and like, ‘Man, I’m going to stand toe-to-toe with anybody and go to war and everybody’s going to run from me.’
“Nah. Wrong, I’m going to get in your face and make you back down. Same thing with Conor.
“He’s not going to be able to say he took me down and held me down, he’s going to say, this guy kneed me in the ribs, elbowed me in the eye socket and then knocked me the f*** out.
“And it’s not going to look good for his brand. I don’t even see him taking the fight with me to tell the truth.
“But much less, if he takes the fight with me, I don’t think he’s fighting after that.”
Topics: Conor McGregor, Jorge Masvidal, MMA, UFC, Australia
Jayden Collins