Winner of six of his last seven, [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] has been on an impressive run at 170 pounds.
Muhammad (16-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) faces [autotag]Lyman Good[/autotag] this Saturday at UFC on ESPN 11 and has been inspired by the recent surge of No. 1 contender and next welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns, who has fully capitalized on the UFC’s schedule during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Muhammad hopes to do the same.
“I can’t wait to just honestly get back out there and get back to work,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie. “Especially you’ve seen all these guys fighting and you’ve seen how guys’ lives are changing within a year. Gilbert Burns literally just – the momentum shift, all it takes is three or four fights that change the momentum and bang you’re fighting for a title, it could happen like that quick. So for me, I just want to go out there and make a statement and then hopefully get a good run going.”
Muhammad and Good were initially slated to face off at UFC 249 on April 18, but Good was forced out after testing positive for COVID-19. The event was then later postponed due to the ongoing pandemic.
When Muhammad returns to the cage Saturday it will have been over nine months since he last competed when he steps into the cage Saturday and should he come out relatively unscathed, he hopes to make a quick turnaround and continue building momentum.
“God willing, if I’m healthy after this fight, I want to just hop right back in there and keep it going,” Muhammad said. “In this sport, I feel like it’s more so the more active you are, the better you fight and a lot of guys where it could go one way or another way where if they go back-to-back they could lose the second one or they’ll cut too much weight and it’ll hurt them.
“For me, I don’t cut a lot of weight anyway, so I’m usually light and around weight so if I could just stay around there and be ready to pop in and at any moment with all these injuries happening … a big fight can come my way.”
Muhammad is coming off a “Performance of the Night” finish over Takashi Sato at UFC 242 last September. He also holds big wins over the likes of Tim Means and Randy Brown, but he is yet to draw a ranked opponent.
Good may not be ranked, but Muhammad is just focused on racking up wins until the big opportunities naturally come his way.
“You always want to fight a ranked guy (and) get your name up there, but I felt like Lyman got a good run going, people are excited about his last couple of fights and then no ranked guy wants to fight,” Muhammad said. “Everybody’s using that excuse, ‘I don’t want to fight below me or I want to wait,’ but like I said now with the times we’re in, it’s just guys that are willing to fight. Dana White’s looking for guys that are trying to fight. … You can’t wait anymore. You gotta be willing to say yes.
“I just want to be that guy that I don’t care who they put in front of me, I’m willing to say yes to anybody.”