A prominent Brazilian commentator believes that the
Ultimate Fighting Championship is doing itself a disservice by
putting its “BMF” belt up under normal rules.
Carlos
Barreto, former UFC Fighter and the current head commentator on
UFC Fight Pass’ Brazilian feed, sees the “BMF” title in a different
light. Justin
Gaethje will be defending this symbolic belt at UFC
300 on Saturday against Max
Holloway. On his weekly YouTube show “Papo de Luta,”
Barreto described on Monday a scenario that would make the “BMF”
fight less-than-stellar. In order to guarantee excitement, the
Carlson Gracie black belt believes that the UFC should put it under
a more old school rule set like vale tudo.
“The focus of the BMF belt is different,” Barreto expressed. “In my
opinion, it should be analyzed under different criteria. Imagine a
‘BMF’ belt where the winner just takes the opponent down and holds
[them down], winning by points. That’s not a ‘BMF.’ ‘BMF’ is brawl,
fight with heart, give your everything. ‘BMF’ is the old vale tudo
style, like Meca and IVC. Bite [down on] the mouthpiece and go to
war.”
When asked about Gaethje’s favored status in the odds, the Meca and
IVC veteran agreed with the betting line of Gaethje around -155,
but noted that he sees Holloway as a more technically skilled
fighter.
“I’m a big fan of both. I put Gaethje in the category of the most
entertaining fights of his generation, and Holloway in the group of
the ‘outclass fighters,’ among the best of all time. But in that
fight specifically, I have to agree with the odds. Gaethje is a
real lightweight, very strong in the division with real knockout
power. Holloway has a higher technical level but he doesn’t have
one-punch knockout power and also he is coming up to a [higher]
division, facing a guy who has this power both with hands and
kicks. In my opinion, it’s going to be a really bloody fight with
Gaethje being the favorite,” Barreto concluded.