Ahead of his first title fight, Belal Muhammad figures he’s been doing just fine for himself when he gets to put in time with some GOATs.
Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) in July finally will get the fight he’s been hoping for – a rematch with Leon Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) for the welterweight title at UFC 304, which takes place July 27 in Machester in Edwards’ home country of England.
Muhammad gets his shot at a UFC title thanks to a 10-fight unbeaten streak that includes wins over Gilbert Burns Vicente Luque and Stephen Thompson. The only hiccup in the past more than five years is a no contest in March 2021 against Edwards at UFC Fight Night 187. That fight was stopped in the second round when Edwards landed an accidental eye poke and Muhammad was unable to continue.
Leading into the rematch, Muhammad said he’s had the opportunity to train with former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and currently lightweight champ Islam Makhachev – and he gave them praise at the highest levels from a different sport.
“Any time they’re around, I try to get as much time with them as possible,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie. “I always say one day training with Khabib is worth 100 days training with anybody else. The knowledge, just the energy you get from them guys, it’s priceless. It’s always good to get a feel from them, get that time.
“… Any time you just get to hang out with those guys – I’m training with the Michael Jordan of the sport in Khabib, and Islam is basically like the LeBron James of the sport. So it’s always good to get those feels with those guys.”
Edwards won the welterweight title with a stunning head kick KO of Kamaru Usman in August 2022. He took a majority decision from him seven months later at UFC 286. This past December, Edwards outpointed Colby Covington for another successful title defense.
Muhammad has five straight wins since his no contest with Edwards. In all but one of them – a win over Demian Maia – he was a betting underdog. Yet he keeps getting his hand raised – against Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque, Sean Brady (his first loss) and Gilbert Burns.
Now an extension of his winning streak will come with a historic piece of hardware. If that happens, he thinks working with Makhachev just before he’s putting his lightweight belt on the line next week against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 was crucial timing.
“It was cool to just be in that same mindset as Islam, who is fighting next week,” Muhammad said. “Any time you can be in a champ camp to feel that aura, it’s a great time – especially for myself, with this being my first title fight.
“Talking to them, seeing what their feels are, asking Islam about his fight in Australia (against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284) and how he coped with the time change and what he did over there, what he ate for breakfast and stuff – it’s always good.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.
