Tag: Belal Muhammad

Khabib Nurmagomedov: ‘My heart is not OK’ with Islam Makhachev fighting Belal Muhammad

Khabib Nurmagomedov would rather not see UFC champions Islam Makhachev and Belal Muhammad fight.

UFC Hall of Famer [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag] would rather not see UFC champions [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] and [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] fight each other.

UFC lightweight champ Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) is eager to move up to welterweight to chase dual-champ status, but with Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) as the current welterweight champ, his plans have been put on hold. Muhammad has trained with Team Nurmagomedov on numerous occasions. “The Eagle” admits he’d be uncomfortable helping Makhachev prep for Muhammad.

“If they had asked me to fight with Belal when I was an active fighter, (I would have said) no,” Nurmagomedov said on the “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman. “But for example, Belal and Islam, OK, you have to talk with them. My heart – my heart is not OK. It would be hard to prepare Islam to beat Belal.”

Nurmagomedov, who cornered Muhammad for his TKO win over Sean Brady at UFC 280, admits that it wouldn’t be easy to game plan for the welterweight champion, who has gone unbeaten in his past 11 fights.

“I don’t think that it’s ever going to happen,” Nurmagomedov said of Makhachev vs. Muhammad. “For me, it’s going to be very hard to prepare somebody to beat Belal. If you want to beat Belal, I think you have to stop him. Without a stoppage, it’s going to be very hard. What are you going to do?

“OK, if you take him down, it’s very hard to control him for 25 minutes, first of all. Second, it’s very hard to dominate him on striking game in all 25 minutes because he mixes it up. He doesn’t stay with you all 25 minutes. He wrestles and strike, wrestle and strike. He is good.”

Instead, Nurmagomedov suggests Muhammad fight Kamaru Usman, if the “Nigerian Nightmare” can rebound with a big win.

“I think I want to see that fight (Muhammad vs. Usman),” Nurmagomedov said. “I want to see it because Kamaru deserves this. People can say whatever they want. Kamaru deserves this fight. Of course, there is Shavkat (Rakhmonov) on the line, but I think if Kamaru beats one guy, somebody like Jack Della Maddalena, he could fight for the title.”

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Belal Muhammad: ‘It felt so good’ to watch Colby Covington ‘bleed and suffer’

Belal Muhammad reveled in the beating Colby Covington took from Joaquin Buckley at UFC Tampa.

Welterweight champion [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] reveled in watching [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] take a beating at UFC on ESPN 63.

Covington (17-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC) suffered a third-round doctor stoppage TKO loss to Joaquin Buckley (21-6 MMA, 11-4 UFC) in this past Saturday’s main event at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. The doctor called off the fight with seconds remaining in Round 3 after a laceration on Covington’s right eyelid bled profusely.

Given their history of trash talk, it should come as no surprise that Muhammad enjoyed watching Covington take so much damage.

”It felt so good just to watch him bleed and suffer,” Muhammad told MMA on SiriusXM. “I was just hoping that the doctor would let it go a little bit more because now you open the door for Colby to make excuses. He’s already coming out with excuses. Bro, you’re literally getting pieced up in every way you can get pieced up. You were losing the grappling, you were losing the striking, you were losing the kickboxing, you even lost the walkout because you ripped your shirt before you even got out there, so you looked stupid doing that.

“Once people realize he’s not what people thought he was – they put him on this pedestal of, ‘Oh, man, he’s the cardio king. He’s this, he’s that.’ These new guys now, where we’re studying, we’re seeing stuff. He’s not throwing anything at you to make you worry. He can throw his pity patty freaking punches, and then he takes his stupid shot and pushes to the fence and tries to take you down. But there are better athletes now, there are better guys, smarter guys now that are seeing all this stuff.”

Muhammad thinks Covington’s time at the top of the welterweight ladder is done.

“I think now that one person realizes, wait, this kid really does suck, he doesn’t belong in the top five in the UFC,” Muhammad said. “I don’t think he’ll beat anybody in the top 10 in the UFC. Now he’s realized the game has passed him by, and he needs to figure out what’s next. Maybe he’ll have one big fight against somebody, maybe, but there’s not a lot left for him.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 63.

Belal Muhammad hopes Joaquin Buckley breaks Colby Covington’s jaw at UFC Tampa

It should come as no surprise that Belal Muhammad is rooting against Colby Covington at UFC Tampa.

It should come as no surprise that [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] is rooting against [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] at UFC on ESPN 63.

Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) returns from a one-year layoff against Joaquin Buckley (20-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) in Saturday’s main event (ESPN2, ESPN+) at Amalie Arena.

UFC welterweight champion Muhammad and Covington have had their fair share of spats throughout the years, but a fight between them never materialized. Muhammad hopes Buckley does serious damage to Covington.

“I’m hoping that Buckley breaks his jaw,” Muhammad said on his “Remember The Show” podcast. “I hope that Buckley puts him out cold, and I think that Buckley can put him out cold. Colby’s striking is terrible, his wrestling looked awful his last fight. I think Buckley is athletic enough to defend those takedowns.”

Muhammad went on to break down Buckley’s path to victory, and what he has to be wary of when it comes to Covington.

“If Buckley doesn’t get crazy – he throws a lot of wide hooks that leaves openings for shots underneath, he just can’t let Colby push him to the fence,” Muhammad said. “He can’t let Colby keep him on the fence and wear him down. In his last fight against ‘Wonderboy,’ he was getting a little bit tired, but I think that was more so because he was offensive wrestling ‘Wonderboy.’ He was taking ‘Wonderboy’ down, ‘Wonderboy’ would get up, he was trying to hold him down, and you don’t really need to hold Colby down.

“You don’t need to shoot on Colby because Colby can’t strike. There’s nothing he’s going to be throwing at you that’s going to be scary. It’s not going to hurt so, just take all of his punches, stand there in the middle, take one and then give him one, and show him that there’s levels to striking. I think that Buckley can finish him, knock him out. We’ve seen Colby have his jaw broken before by Kamaru (Usman), who sucks with striking. So, I think Buckley who has way more power, way better boxing can put Colby to sleep.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 63.

Kamaru Usman mocks Belal Muhammad for being stopped by security at UFC 310, gets response

Kamaru Usman couldn’t contain his laughter when reacting to security stopping Belal Muhammad at UFC 310.

[autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] couldn’t contain his laughter when reacting to security stopping [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] at UFC 310.

Welterweight champion Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) tried to enter the octagon Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to face off with co-main event winner Shavkat Rakhmonov, but was momentarily stopped by the security before he was let in.

Joe Rogan joked that security didn’t know Muhammad was the champion before ultimately being brought in for a faceoff with expected next challenger Rakhmonov, and Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) thought it was hysterical.

“What are we doing when even the security working the UFC event don’t know you are a UFC champion? Oh my God,” Usman said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Henry Cejudo. “I remember when I saw it too, I was like, ‘Yo, Joe Rogan had to vouch for you to get you to come through security.’

“Did you hear what Joe Rogan said? ‘Oh, he’s the champ, let him in.’ I know Joe didn’t even mean it in a negative way. I mean obviously Joe is a comedian, it’s just natural timing and delivery. He just hit the mark, and that’s what I found really, really funny.”

Usman’s reaction shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. The former champion and Muhammad have recently been trading barbs, and Muhammad fired back.

“How is the podcast called pound4pound if he’s not even ranked.”

“Isn’t that the guy I made cry on his own podcast.”

Muhammad was scheduled to make his first title defense against Rakhmonov at UFC 310, but a bone infection in his toe forced him out of the bout. Rakhmonov faced Ian Machado Garry instead, defeating him by unanimous decision to further cement his No. 1 contender spot.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.

Daniel Cormier: Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov’s post-UFC 310 faceoff was ‘weird’

Daniel Cormier wasn’t a fan of the in-cage faceoff between Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310.

[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] wasn’t a fan of the in-cage faceoff between [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] and [autotag]Shavkat Rakhmonov[/autotag] at UFC 310.

Rakhmonov (16-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) faced off with welterweight champion Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) after he defeated Ian Machado Garry in Saturday’s UFC 310 co-main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Security initially wouldn’t let Muhammad into the cage, and Joe Rogan didn’t help matters when he joked on the microphone that security didn’t know he’s the champion. Cormier doesn’t think the faceoff helped promote the fight any more and saw the language barrier between Rakhmonov and Muhammad as an issue.

“I’ve got to be honest. It was weird,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “I don’t love faceoffs when you have a translator, especially when Belal, as much as people want to hate him, he’s not a disrespectful guy. So it doesn’t make that moment that you’re looking for when you bring a champion into the ring. When Volk came in after Topuria beat Max, they shook hands and they left. It was very respectful.

“But you understood what they were saying. When (Sean) O’Malley was in there, and he was about to fight Aljo (Sterling) for the belt, Merab (Dvalishvili) takes the jacket, that makes a memory. This tonight, I don’t think it served the purpose that you want, as a promotion, in regards to what you’re going to do to try to build that fight.”

Muhammad was initially scheduled to defend his title against Rakhmonov in Saturday’s main event, but a bone infection in his toe forced him to withdraw. He was cleared to return to training last week.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.

After UFC 310, Belal Muhammad says he’ll ‘walk through’ Shavkat Rakhmonov

Belal Muhammad is even more confident after watching Shavkat Rakhmonov fight at UFC 310.

Welterweight champion [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] is even more confident after watching Shavkat Rakhmonov fight at UFC 310.

Muhammad was front row for Saturday’s co-main event at T-Mobile Arena between [autotag]Shavkat Rakhmonov[/autotag] (16-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) and Ian Machado Garry (15-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC). Rakhmonov survived a late surge from Machado Garry to win a five-round unanimous decision.

Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) was confident that he’d beat either fighter before the fight took place. After Rakhmonov failed to finish for the first time in his career, he likes his chances even more.

“The only thing I saw is that I win. Regardless of when it is, that’s how it’s going to be,” Muhammad told ESPN. “I knew that I was going to be able to beat both of them, whoever came out on top. But after watching it, getting another five rounds of seeing it, now I know it’s going to be a fight for me that I’m going to walk through.”

Muhammad showed off his grappling and striking to dethrone Leon Edwards at UFC 304 in July. He sees himself having the advantage over Rakhmonov wherever the fight goes.

“I think I’m a better striker. I think I’m better everywhere,” Muhammad said. “People will sit there and call me a grappler, but in the Leon fight, I out-struck him. He was supposed to be the best striker in the division, and then I walked him down and broke him on the feet and on the ground. I had 100 more strikes than him.

“So people could say what they want to say, but I think I am the best striker in the division and, the way that I fight, it’s different than the rest of these guys. It’s hard for these guys to catch reads on me and figure me out until you see me in front of you, and then when you see me in front of you, it’s already too late because I’m hitting you.”

Muhammad was surprised with the lack of activity during Rakhmonov and Machado Garry’s clinches. He vows to make Rakhmonov work if they get stuck in those positions.

“I wouldn’t have given him those times to rest, right?” Muhammad said. “There’s times when he’s resting on the cage, holding him (Garry), they’re holding over-under. You’re getting the ref having to tell you to work, work, work. There won’t be that moment with me. I’m going to be the one with the foot on the gas.

“I’m going to be the one pushing him on the fence, taking him down, letting him back up, taking him down, letting him back up. If you’ve never felt that before, you’re going to be drowning. It’s going to feel like there’s nowhere to go. It’s going to feel like you’re in quicksand. And the same way Leon felt it, and he broke, it’s going to be the same thing with Shavkat.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.

Belal Muhammad explains why Ian Machado Garry will beat Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310

Belal Muhammad will have his eyes peeled for the UFC 310 co-main event.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] will have his eyes peeled for the UFC 310 co-main event.

Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) was scheduled to defend his welterweight title against [autotag]Shavkat Rakhmonov[/autotag] in Saturday’s main event, but was forced out due to a bone infection in his foot. Instead, Rakhmonov will take on [autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag] in a five-round bout (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, Hulu, ESPN+) at T-Mobile Arena.

Although Machado Garry (15-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) is a big underdog, Muhammad is picking him to upset Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC).

“Honestly, I think it’s going to be Ian,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie on the red carpet. “He’s very smart with the way he fights, and he has good IQ of how to get a win. We’ve seen him get rocked before, but he always adjusts his style. I think he’s had harder matchups in the UFC, and he’s showed different game plans for all of his matchups, and I think he’ll be able to stick and move his way to victory.”

However, Muhammad would rather Rakhmonov win. While he sees Machado Garry doing a better job of selling a fight, he likes the sense of invincibility that Rakhmonov brings with his 100 percent finish rate.

“Shavkat has more of that aura about him,” Muhammad said. “I think people overrate him. They put him on this big pedestal. I think a lot of people underrate Ian. They don’t think he’s really as good as his record shows, but for me, either one. It doesn’t matter because I’m going to take somebody’s 0. I’m just starting to train now, so definitely before summer because I want to get at least two or three fights in next year.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.

Belal Muhammad details severity of bone infection that forced UFC 310 withdrawal: ‘It was heartbreaking’

Belal Muhammad was willing to do whatever it takes to make UFC 310.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] was willing to do whatever it takes to make UFC 310.

Welterweight champion Muhammad was forced to withdraw from his title defense against Shavkat Rakhmonov due to a bone infection in his foot. Rakhmonov will now face Ian Machado Garry in a five-round co-main event Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.

After three weeks in the hospital and six weeks of antibiotics, Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) finally had his PICC line removed Monday.

“I’m cleared and good to go,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie on the red carpet. “But now, it’s like getting back to where I was. Literally I did like 50 pushups, and I felt like I was in a war and I got hit by a truck. I’m like, ‘Bro, this is how it feels to not be in shape? It’s crazy.'”

Muhammad was eager to be an active champion after dethroning Leon Edwards at UFC 304 in July. He was willing to take extreme measures to make UFC 310 until doctors warned him of the severe consequences.

“It got to the point where I was like, ‘Bro, what if you got rid of the toe? What do I need to do to get back in there as quickly as possible?,'” Muhammad said. “But the way the doctor was saying it, it was like a bone infection. So it wasn’t like people were saying: ‘Oh, you’ve got a broken toe.’ I’m like, bro, if it was a toe, I had a broken toe for over a year.

“And then that toe got infected because of that, so that went directly into the bone and it was climbing up the foot. So he was like, ‘Bro, you’ll get your foot amputated.’ It ain’t that. So for me, it was heartbreaking, obviously, but just trusting God, trusting God has a plan for me, knowing that everything happens for a reason. And now that I look at it from the bigger picture side, I’m hoping that there’s a reason for it.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.

Shavkat Rakhmonov welcomes in-cage faceoff with Belal Muhammad at UFC 310

Shavkat Rakhmonov would have no issues if Belal Muhammad got into the octagon for a face-to-face if he wins at UFC 310.

[autotag]Shavkat Rakhmonov[/autotag] will be happy to get face to face with [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] at UFC 310, should he emerge victorious from the co-main event.

Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) will face Ian Machado Garry (15-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in a battle of unbeaten welterweight contenders scheduled for five rounds on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, Hulu, ESPN+).

UFC CEO Dana White has stated the winner will challenge champ Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC), who withdrew from the original headliner of the card against Rakhmonov.

As the anticipated matchup between Rakhmonov and Machado Garry gets closer, Muhammad revealed Monday on social media that he has been cleared to resume training from the foot infection that delayed his first 170-pound title defense.

That’s music to Rakhmonov’s ears, but it’s also not the genesis of much excitement. Rakhmonov knows that, without beating Machado Garry at UFC 310, there’s no shot at gold in his immediate future.

“Obviously that’s great news, but right now that’s not the focus right now – I have a fight ahead of me and this is what I have to do,” Rakhmonov told MMA Junkie through an interpreter. “I have to come out there and win. After that, then we can start talking what, where, how and when he’s ready and what the plans are. But for now, the focus is this Saturday.”

If Rakhmonov does manage to get his hand raised, he said he would welcome the promotion for a title fight with Muhammad to kick of right away. Muhammad will be in attendance at UFC 310, and if the champ wants to enter the cage for a faceoff, Rakhmonov is down.

“Of course, that’s not an issue at all,” Rakhmonov said. “If I get the victory, he can come in (the octagon).”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.

Belal Muhammad gives update on health issues that forced him out of UFC 310

UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad shares an update on his health issues that canceled his return at UFC 310 on Dec. 7.

There’s some good news for UFC welterweight champion [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag].

Last month, it was revealed that Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) was not going to be making his first title defense against Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 on Dec. 7 due to some serious health issues. Muhammad suffered a nasty toe infection that sent him to the hospital and forced his withdrawal from the fight.

Well, now, three weeks later, things are looking up for the 36-year-old.

“It’s been a hard, difficult three weeks, but we got news today that, I went walking up the stairs yesterday and I got so many messages, ‘What are you doing? What are you doing?’, but the doctor gave me clearance,” Muhammad said on the latest episode of “Remember the Show.” “He said the toe looks good, and the wound is fully closed, so I started jogging on it. The only thing is that I got 10 days left of the antibiotics, so on Dec. 1 the PICC line comes out, and we’re all systems go. Now I can see the finish line. It feels so good.”

With Muhammad’s injury, there was talk of a potential implementation of an interim belt. However, given Muhammad wasn’t going to be out for too long, the UFC instead booked a title eliminator bout between Rakhmonov and Ian Machado Garry for the co-main event of UFC 310, promoting the uFC flyweight title bout between Alexandre Pantoja and Kai Asakura to the main event.

Muhammad is happy with the way things were handled by the UFC in his division.

“Honestly, I’m happy that there was no interim belt. I didn’t think it was needed,” Muhammad said. “But yeah, I think the matchup makes a lot of sense when you look at the division. It made more sense than Buckley and Ian Garry. I think Shavkat and Ian Garry, both undefeated, both guys that are right there at the top, and they have both called each other out before. It makes a lot of sense, and I’m excited to see how it goes.”

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