ABU DHABI – [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] is confident he can control his fight against [autotag]Sean Brady[/autotag].
Muhammad (21-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) meets Brady (15-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) in a pivotal welterweight clash at Saturday’s UFC 280 from Etihad Arena. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and ESPN+.
From striking specialists to ground specialists, Muhammad said he’s seen it all in the cage, making him more experienced than Brady.
“I’m gonna dictate where it goes,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie. “I think my last three or four fights, they’ve all been different styles. I’ve had to play defensive grappling with Demian Maia, I’ve had to play offensive grappling with with ‘Wonderboy,’ I’ve had to do both with Luque, so I’ve showed that I can be a chameleon and I could pick and choose what I want to do, and I think he hasn’t had that. All of his fights, they’ve been grapple-heavy, because guys that he’s fought allowed him to do that.
“Once he gets in there with me and he feels me and he realizes, ‘Dang, this wasn’t what I thought it was gonna be,’ and he starts panicking, that’s when I pick and choose and start picking him apart, because a lot of guys, they all underestimate me. I’m still an underdog in this fight. I’ve been an underdog in my last four fights and people just don’t understand it until they’re in the cage with me that they realize that (I’m) No. 5 for a reason. (I’ve) beat these guys for a reason. It wasn’t because of age, it wasn’t because of this, it wasn’t because of that. I think I have the best IQ in the division, and I think I’m the best fighter in the division.”
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Muhammad is coming off a five-round decision win over Vicente Luque, snapping the dangerous Brazilian’s winning streak. He would have loved a 25-minute fight with Brady, but Muhammad is relishing the opportunity to fight again in the Middle East.
“I definitely wanted it to be five rounds, especially after that last five-round fight,” Muhammad said. “But the biggest thing for me was just fighting here, because I think it could have been a main event on any Fight Night card, but I said I wanted to be on this fight night, I wanted to be on this card, biggest card of the year, be back here in Abu Dhabi, because the last time I was here – the energy, the fans, it was amazing. I was like I want to come back, I need to come back, and I need to be put on this card.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 280.
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