Belal Muhammad confirms plans for UFC 310 return, eyeing Kamaru Usman or Shavkat Rakhmonov next
UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad will likely be back in the cage in December.
‘Remember The Name’ is fresh off his return to the cage in July at UFC 304. In the main event, Belal Muhammad finally got his crack at welterweight gold against Leon Edwards. He faced ‘Rocky’ three years prior, fighting to a no-contest at the UFC Apex. Since then, both men have accelerated to the top of the welterweight division.
Despite entering the cage an underdog, Belal Muhammad shocked British fans in July. Using a grappling-heavy gameplan, he took down Edwards again and again. After five hard-fought rounds, Muhammad earned the victory by unanimous decision. In the process, ending the British fighter’s reign at 170 pounds.
Since then, Belal Muhammad has been vocal about a return to the cage. Earlier this week, the newly crowned UFC welterweight champion discussed exactly that in an interview with MMA Junkie. There, Muhammad opened up on his plans to return to the octagon at UFC 310 in December. Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler have also been linked to that card as well.
Belal Muhammad confirms plans for UFC 310 return, opens up on who could be next
As far as Belal Muhammad’s first title defense goes, the welterweight expects either Kamaru Usman or Shavkat Rakhmonov. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is currently riding a three-fight losing streak, last suffering a majority-decision defeat to Khamzat Chimaev in October. Meanwhile, ‘Nomad’ is coming off a submission victory over Stephen Thompson in December.
“Hopefully [I’ll fight again in 2024], I’d rather fight than not fight.” Belal Muhammad stated in the interview. “Hopefully if I can get onto the last card of the year in December that’ll be great for me. I think that makes a lot of sense. You just never know if they don’t want to put anybody on McGregor’s card. But I doubt McGregor’s even fighting.”
He continued, “So they need somebody for that, and it’ll either be me or Alex Pereira who step up… I’m ready to go, I’m not going to be a Leon Edwards where I take a year off. I want to make this division great again, so let’s just stay active.”
What do you make of these comments from the UFC welterweight champion? Who do you want to see Belal Muhammad fight next?
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
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