Tag: Belal Muhammad

Belal Muhammad plans Dagestan training, working with Khabib Nurmagomedov for UFC title fight

Belal Muhammad will look to old pal Khabib Nurmagomedov for advice ahead of his potential UFC title fight vs. Leon Edwards.

[autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] will head across the world ahead of his potential UFC title fight vs. Leon Edwards and hopes to pick the brains of one of the all-time greats.

It won’t be the first time, but Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) will travel to Dagestan to get work in with notables from the region. He hopes to once again get advice from [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag], whom he’s become close with over the years as the two share the same manager.

“I’m planning for sure to go to Dagestan and train with those guys, like you said, to get a new look, to get different feels,” Muhammad recently told MMA Junkie Radio. “Those guys don’t let you take any days off or any easy rounds. That’s always perfect for me. Last time I trained with those guys, we got a dominant finish and I plan to do the same thing.”

When asked if Nurmagomedov has ever led him astray, Muhammad said never. He takes the advice given to him by “The Eagle” as invaluable, a great compliment to the unique training environment Nurmagomedov has established in his team’s training sessions.

“A lot of their stuff that we do when we go live or we go hard is like we’re working,” Muhammad said. “Over here, I do a lot of specific drilling with my team, my guys here. When it’s over there, I’ve got to be ready to go. I’ve got to be ready to be in shape. It’s an uncomfortable feeling. A lot of these guys, they’re not who I’m with every single day. So every round is a lot harder. Every round feels like it’s a new fight. I think that’s an advantage for me because with a lot of these fighters, you don’t get that uncomfortable feeling until you get to fight night where it’s like, ‘Alright, now it’s finally here. I’ve been thinking about this guy for a month.’ You’ve had looks, but you haven’t had the specific guy who’s in front of you right now.

“For me, when I’m over there with those guys, every single one of those guys is a beast and they all have their own style. Every round, you have that uncomfortable feeling of butterflies in your stomach. Here, when I go with my guys, my teammates, you know who’s a hard round. You know what they do. You see them every day. You know what they’re good at. You know what they’re not good at. It’s more of a calm feeling. But when you go with somebody new, somebody different, a new training partner, it gives you that ‘all right’ in your chest a little bit. It makes you go that much harder. It makes you go that much harder. It makes you get a little bit more tired. It makes you have to think more on your feet.”

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Muhammad, 35, is thought by many to be the next likely title challenger for Edwards (22-3 MMA, 14-2 UFC), but nothing is set quite yet. UFC CEO Dana White said in May that Muhammad would be next but was noncommittal at the UFC 296 post-fight news conference in December.

In the weeks that have followed, rumors of a Muhammad title shot at UFC 300 have surfaced after Edwards said the bout was happening during a public appearance.

Belal Muhammad confident Dana White keeps word, expects ‘weak mentally’ Leon Edwards at UFC 300

For Belal Muhammad, it’s full steam ahead toward a UFC title fight vs. Leon Edwards – and he oozes confidence.

It’s all coming together for [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag], at least in his self-assessment.

With a title challenge against [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] rumored for the UFC 300 card April 13 in Las Vegas, Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) recently told MMA Junkie he hasn’t heard any specifics himself. Regardless of the where and when, Muhammad voiced confidence there was no question of “will.”

“I’m just hoping (UFC CEO) Dana (White) is waiting to do one of those epic announcements,” Muhammad recently told MMA Junkie Radio. “But for me, I think it’s the time that’s going to happen. I feel like I’m ready for it. He said he wants to fight on 300. It makes sense but nothing is finalized until I get a contract. Once I get that, I’ll be satisfied. But for now, it’s just knowing that’s the last thing that Dana told me. I’m next. Dana is not a man to go against his word. We’re just waiting for everything to be finalized and set in stone and ready to go.

“… My last fight, we took it on three weeks notice, for Gilbert Burns. It was one of those moments where I was over there and I was like, there was still a lot of unknowns before taking that fight. It was like, ‘Well, it could be this or it could be that. We don’t know what’s next yet.’ But when I took that fight, they’re like, ‘If you beat Gilbert Burns, you’re next.’ So now, there is no more unknown. We know who’s up next for the title fight. Now, it’s the date, which doesn’t even really matter to me. I’ll fight next week. I’ll fight tomorrow. Just give me that title on the line, I’ll show up and be ready to go.”

Muhammad is already in training hard, which isn’t totally unusual for him. His home base is a small gym, Chicago Fight Team, so Muhammad is constantly assisting his teammates with their fights.

For that, and many other reasons, Muhammad will be ready whenever the promotion calls and has some travel plans for his official training camp.

“I’m planning to go to Dagestan and train with those guys, like you said, to get a new look, to get different feels,” Muhammad said. “Those guys don’t let you take any days off or any easy rounds. That’s always perfect for me. Last time I trained with those guys, we got a dominant finish. I plan to do the same thing.”

Muhammad weighed in as the backup fighter for the UFC 296 main event between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington, and pulled no punches in it’s aftermath. Muhammad was unimpressed by the lackluster bout and called it “a joke to the division.”

It’s been nearly three years since Edwards poked Muhammad in the eye, which resulted in an unfortunate no contest. Since then, Muhammad has hankered for a rematch – but to no avail (yet).

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Having closely watched his foe’s path thereafter, Muhammad explained in detail why he feels confident he’ll walk away with the title should the rematch happen.

“The path I had to go since the Leon fight was way different than him,” Muhammad said. “You fought Nate Diaz, who you should’ve been able to walk through. You didn’t. You fought Usman, who was killing you. He had you broken mentally and you landed a head kick. OK. Then, your rematch, you did what you just did to Colby. You made it a lackluster fight. You didn’t fight. You hit and moved, hit and moved, hit and moved. I think it was more so that Usman wasn’t himself that fight because he came back a little bit too soon. I still thought Usman won that fight. If we’re looking at growth, if we’re looking at complete martial artists, if we’re looking at who’s bettering themself, I’ve gotten better every single one of my fights. He hasn’t.”

While they’re unlikely to agree on much, Muhammad echoed Covington’s recent sentiments that Edwards struggles with mental toughness – particularly pointing to coach Dave Lovell’s motivational mid-fight speeches.

“I think Leon having to fight somebody like me, who is hungry, who has been fighting the best guys in the world, it’s going to be a different kind of fight for him,” Muhammad said. “He’s going to realize that when he’s in the cage and his motivational speaker who he has in his corner in between rounds, he can’t really give him advice. ‘Beautiful, Leon. Beautiful.’ When you have coaches like that who give you that type of advice in between (rounds), that just tells me how weak mentally you are. You need those type of guys with you. Like, have David Goggins in your corner because you’re going to need more motivation that ever when you fight me.”

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Henry Cejudo: Belal Muhammad stylistically ‘the closest person to a guy like Khabib Nurmagomedov’

Henry Cejudo sees a lot of similarities between Belal Muhammad’s fighting style and Khabib Nurmagomedov’s.

[autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] believes [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag]’s fighting style resembles former UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag]’s.

Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC), who’s unbeaten in his past 10 fights, spent his training camp leading up to his fight against Sean Brady with Nurmagomedov and his team in the United Arab Emirates. Muhammad ended up having one of his most standout performances, handing Brady his first-career loss when he stopped him by TKO at UFC 280.

After finishing Brady, Muhammad defeated former title challenger Gilbert Burns to emerge as a top contender. If Muhammad gets his long-desired rematch against welterweight champion Leon Edwards next, Cejudo sees him giving Edwards a tough time.

“It’s going to be a great, competitive fight,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel.. “… Stylistically, the way that Belal Muhammad – what he did to Gilbert Burns and how he did it to him, he’s only gotten better. I will say this: The closest person to a guy like Khabib Nurmagomedov, his name is actually Belal Muhammad. They do the same kind of cross steps. They kind of run and shoot. They do the same kind of feints with that lead hand to eventually level change for the takedown.”

Muhammad’s first fight with Edwards (22-3 MMA, 14-2 UFC) in March 2021 ended in a no contest after he was inadvertently poked in the eye and rendered unable to continue. Since then, Cejudo believes Muhammad is the one who’s progressed more as a fighter.

“I’m going to have to go back and rewatch their fight the first time and see how that actually went,” Cejudo said. “I will say this: They both have gotten better, but if there’s one person that I would say that has evolved more than the other, his name is Belal Muhammad. He’s just gotten so, so freaking much better. He’s a freestyle fighter.

“It’s not like he has this crazy, swift technique like Leon or beautiful knees up the middle or front kicks that are extremely dangerous. What he does know how to do is mix his damn fighting. He knows how to level change at the right time. He knows when to bait you to eventually go in for a takedown. He knows when to press and when someone is fatigued and tired, like he did to Sean Brady.”

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Leon Edwards says he has next title defense set for UFC 300 — then wants summer return, too

We don’t know Leon Edwards’ next dance partner yet, but the “Save the Date” card went out Saturday from Edwards himself.

We don’t know [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag]’ next dance partner yet, but the “Save the Date” card went out Saturday from Edwards himself.

The British welterweight champion said he’ll return to defend his title at UFC 300 in April at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. UFC CEO Dana White the type of legendary top-to-bottom card befitting of the historic event number, and Edwards said he’ll be part of it.

The 32-year-old was honored at halftime of Aston Villa’s home win over Burnley at Villa Park in Birmingham, England. Edwards was born in Jamaica, but moved to Birmingham when he was 9. Two weeks after his unanimous decision win over Colby Covington at UFC 296, Edwards got a customized Aston Villa home kit shirt with “Champ” and the number 1 on the back.

Edwards (22-3 MMA, 14-2 UFC) told the crowd he’ll fight at UFC 300 in a title defense. Several names have been floated as candidates. Nate Diaz threw his hat in the proverbial ring this past week. He lost a decision to Edwards in 2021, but mounted a late rally that had fans clamoring for a Round 6. Lightweight champion Islam Makhachev wants to attempt to be a two-division titleholder, and a shot at history would be on brand for something like UFC 300.

But the most likely opponent may be [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC). Edwards and Muhammad fought once before, but their matchup was a no contest when Muhammad took an accidental eye poke just 18 seconds into the second round of their UFC Fight Night 187 main event. Muhammad has been campaigning for a title shot for a while based on merit, but had to wait out a Kamaru Usman rematch with Edwards, then Covington’s title shot, which came on the heels of nearly two years of inactivity.

Initially, Edwards didn’t seem all that keen on a fight against Muhammad after his win over Covington. But he appeared to warm to the idea, perhaps out of inevitability of the matchup.

Edwards has 12 straight wins. He also told the crowd at Villa Park that he hopes to fight again next summer in Birmingham, which would make him one of the most active titleholders in UFC history.

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Jon Anik: Leon Edwards has to ‘beat all of these guys,’ including Belal Muhammad, to be welterweight GOAT

Jon Anik believes UFC champ Leon Edwards has to take on all comers if he wants to be considered welterweight great.

Jon Anik believes UFC champion [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] should take on all comers if he wants to be considered welterweight great.

Edwards  (22-3 MMA, 14-2 UFC) expressed his desire of surpassing Georges St-Pierre’s nine title defenses, and UFC play-by-play commentator Anik thinks he has the potential to do it. Edwards notched his second title defense when he defeated Colby Covington by unanimous decision earlier this month at UFC 296.

Going off of rankings and resume, [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) appears to be a clear-cut contender, but Edwards was dismissive of his former foe – even though their first fight ended in a no contest. If Edwards wants to eclipse St-Pierre, Anik says he should run things back with Muhammad.

“I’m not necessarily surprised,” Anik said in an interview with Bodog Canada. “It’s not Leon Edwards’ job as undisputed UFC welterweight champion to lay the foundation for his next title defense. Certainly if his aspiration is to go down as the greatest welterweight champion of all time – and by the way that is well within reach when you just beat Kamaru Usman twice and then Colby Covington. If that’s the goal, he should want to take out and beat all of these guys.

“I think you need to marry the financial goals with the career-aspirational goals. I mean, he’s a Hall of Famer first ballot, but to go down potentially as the greatest welterweight of all time, if Belal Muhammad is indeed easy work, I think that fight makes a lot of sense.”

Anik doesn’t see a rightful contender outside of Muhammad, who’s unbeaten in his past 10 fights. The only other case he can make is Khamzat Chimaev, who is currently competing at middleweight.

“When you look divisionally at some of these guys who have ironclad cases – Merab Dvalishvili comes to mind – of course he vaulted to No. 1 contender status in and around the time where his teammate Aljamain Sterling was the champion,” Anik said.

“Khamzat Chimaev is the only man who can lay claim to a welterweight title shot right now, as far as I’m concerned, other than Belal Muhammad, and he’s not competing at the weight class. Belal has one of these unbeaten streaks like all of the champions do, and he doesn’t get any pound-for-pound consideration. I just think we have to restore a little bit of order, and I do think the UFC is going to make the right decision here.”

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Belal Muhammad senses fear from Leon Edwards, but UFC champ fires back: ‘That’s easy work’

Despite his coach’s comments, UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards says he’s willing to rematch Belal Muhammad.

Despite his coach’s comments, welterweight champion [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] says he’s willing to rematch [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag].

Edwards’ head coach Dave Lovell told The MMA Hour that he prefers Gilbert Burns next, who lost to Muhammad in his most recent bout at UFC 288. Muhammad and Edwards fought in March 2021, but their bout was ruled a no contest after Edwards accidentally poked Muhammad in the eye and rendered him unable to continue.

Lovell’s comments baffled Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC), who accused Edwards of being scared.

“Leon’s opinion doesn’t matter.. his coach doesn’t matter ..the only person I care about is Dana and he gave me his word.. that’s all that matters … we’re next and the fact that they’re showing fear only gives me more confidence ..you should be afraid.”

Edwards (22-3 MMA, 14-2 UFC) retained his welterweight title in a unanimous decision win over Colby Covington this past Saturday at UFC 296. Muhammad weighed in as a backup for that fight.

At the post-fight news conference, Edwards appeared dismissive of the idea of running things back with Muhammad, but is hinting that it’s the UFC that isn’t interested.

“Lol Belal calm down son you’re the least intimidating person in the organisation. I already told UFC I don’t mind I’ll fight you next that’s easy work. You just have to figure out why they hate you so much.”

Muhammad was declared the No. 1 contender after defeating Burns in May. But despite that, UFC CEO Dana White didn’t commit to Muhammad being next after UFC 296.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.

Belal Muhammad: Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington at UFC 296 ‘was a joke to the division’

Belal Muhammad was rather critical of the UFC 296 main event between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington.

[autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] was rather critical of the UFC 296 main event.

Welterweight champion Leon Edwards (22-3 MMA, 14-2 UFC) defeated Colby Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) by unanimous decision to retain his belt this past Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and Muhammad wasn’t impressed.

It was a rather lackluster affair – especially in the first couple of rounds, where Covington was uncharacteristically tentative. Edwards admits Covington’s approach threw him off, but Muhammad expected more from both fighters.

“Honestly, it was a joke to the division,” Muhammad told ESPN after UFC 296. “That’s what happens when you get a bum off the couch (Covington) who’s been out for two years, who didn’t deserve the shot, and he goes out there and he didn’t back up the talk. For Leon Edwards, you should have backed up your talk, too. For what Colby said, he deserved to have his jaw broken.

“I thought Leon should have went out there, he should have embarrassed him and put it on him, but he played that little game. So I think the UFC knows who’s next. I need to get in there. I need to make the welterweight division great again because I’m going to come to fight every single fight. I’m going to be in your face non-stop, 100 percent. There’s not going to be no breathing at all for Leon Edwards.”

Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC), who weighed in as a backup, is eager for his title shot. His first fight with Edwards ended in a no contest, and he vows to put the pressure on the champion if they run things back.

“I’m going to be in his face,” Muhammad said. “I’m going to make him bleed. I’m going to make him breathe hard. I’m going to make him look to his corner and his coach is going to repeat that same statement: ‘Don’t let him bully you, son.’ He’s going to say that every single round, and once the fight’s over, he’s (going to say), ‘You let him bully you, son.’ That’s what I’m going to do to him. I’m going to bully him.”

Edwards insists he doesn’t think Muhammad should be next, and UFC CEO Dana White refused to commit to the idea as well. But Muhammad is ready to step in whenever he gets the call, and pleads to White to give him his shot.

“I’m ready,” Muhammad said. “He didn’t take no damage at all. Colby had like 500 strikes. Probably one of them was significant. They’re all mosquito bites, so Leon Edwards probably just has to go take a quick shower, brush all that dirt off and he’ll be good to go. I hope he doesn’t go on his long tour again.

“He’s very inactive. Stay in the gym, stay ready to go. Whenever you’re ready, I’m ready to go. You can call me on a week’s notice, I’m ready to go. It doesn’t matter when the UFC calls. I just want this title fight. In the words of the famous ‘GSP’ (Georges St-Pierre), ‘Dana, please just give me my shot.'”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.

Leon Edwards would rematch Belal Muhammad if he has to after UFC 296: ‘I’ve proven I’m way better than him anyway’

Leon Edwards is open to rematching Belal Muhammad next, but won’t be surprised if he’s leapfrogged after UFC 296.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] is open to rematching [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] next, but won’t be surprised if he’s leapfrogged after UFC 296.

Welterweight champion Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) defends his title against Colby Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 296 headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and early prelims on ESPN+.

Weighing in as a backup will be Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC), who’s lone asterisk in his 10-fight unbeaten run came in a no contest against Edwards in March 2021. Muhammad has been chomping at the bit for his title shot, and Edwards says he could be next – but he doesn’t guarantee it.

“Maybe,” Edwards told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s UFC 296 media day. “There’s many guys that have been the backup for other cards and didn’t end up fighting for the world title.

“Let’s say on Saturday night one of the other guys do like a mad, standout performance, maybe the UFC will skip Belal and put them in. So who knows? But you’ve got to fight them all anyway, so whoever comes first, it doesn’t matter.”

Edwards is confident he’s a better fighter than Muhammad. In their first fight, Muhammad was on the receiving end of a nasty eye poke which rendered him unable to continue in the opening seconds of Round 2.

Edwards won Round 1 on all three judges’ scorecards, where he was able to rock Muhammad with a head kick. He thinks their just over five minutes of action is indicative of how the fight would have played out.

“If I have to fight Belal, I’ll fight Belal,” Edwards said. “I feel like I’ve proven I’m way better than him anyway just from that one round. If he’s next, I’ll happily engage it and it’s fine. I believe I’m going to fight them all anyway, so why not fight them all as a champion?”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.

Video: Which welterweights can disrupt the title picture at UFC 296?

Aside from the main event title fight, two other big welterweight matchups go down at UFC 296. Could a winner claim No. 1 contender status?

UFC 296 is headlined by a welterweight title bout between champ [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] and former interim champ [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag].

Elsewhere on the final pay-per-view card of the year are two other massive welterweight fights, with each competitor looking to find their way into a title fight soon. Former title challenger [autotag]Stephen Thompson[/autotag] takes on the rapidly rising [autotag]Shavkat Rakhmonov[/autotag], and the polarizing [autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag] takes on Kill Cliff FC teammate [autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag].

[autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag], the current No. 1 contender, will also appear this weekend, at least on the scale for official weigh-ins. Muhamamad is the backup for the main event, should something go wrong during fight week.

Considering Muhammad is unlikely to compete since the services of a backup have never been needed in the UFC thus far, could one of the other welterweights create a moment to shake up the title picture?

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Our “Spinning Back Clique” panelists Farah Hannoun, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Dan Tom discuss the tight welterweight race with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.

Check out their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss the most recent full episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube or in podcast form.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.

Belal Muhammad explains how potential rivalry with Khamzat Chimaev turned into friendship

Last year, Belal Muhammad was calling for a fight against Khamzat Chimaev. This year, they have formed a bond over common interests.

UFC welterweight contender [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] was once on a potential collision course with Khamzat Chimaev, but they have since formed a bond over the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

Muhammad, a Palestinian-American, has always been outspoken in his support for the country. Throughout his career, he has carried the nation’s flag with him into the octagon and has occasionally draped it over his shoulders during his post-fight interviews.

Since hostilities between Israel and Hamas escalated in October, Muhammad has shown his support for Palestinians caught in the middle and has called for a cease fire. He noticed one of his fighting peers was also publicly supporting Palestine, which has led to a friendship with Chimaev.

“For me, it was obviously huge that he was posting about Palestine,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie. “That’s my brother now. Like, if you’re supporting my people, we’re one. It’s all about being a Muslim and when one Muslim’s in pain, one Muslim’s hurting, you should be feeling the same pain, feeling the same hurt. I feel like we’ve got connected off of that.”

Last October, Muhammad called for a fight against Chimaev after picking up a win over Sean Brady at UFC 280. “I’ll fight you at 179.8. I don’t care about weight,” Muhammad told reporters at the post-fight news conference. “For me, I want to fight the best guys in the world.”

That comment came a month after Chimaev missed weight for a scheduled welterweight bout against Nate Diaz, which ended up being a catchweight bout against Kevin Holland after a last-minute shuffle at UFC 279. Chimaev’s future now appears to be at middleweight, which would make a bout against Muhammad even less likely today.

This past October, the two Muslim fighters shared images on Instagram where they jointly displayed a Palestinian flag, effectively ending their desire to meet inside the cage.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CyoHgfAsuUb/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Muhammad will serve as the backup for the welterweight title fight between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington at UFC 296. If his services are not needed, hopes to secure a title fight in 2024, along with Chimaev.

“I’m Team Khamzat. I hope he gets the 185-pound title. I hope he gets the title shot and inshallah, next year, it’ll be me at 170 champion, Islam at 155 champion, and Khamzat at 185 champion. We’ll be taking over.”

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