Before his first title fight Belal Muhammad imagine he’s doing pretty well when he can dedicate some time to some GOATs.
Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) in July will finally get the fight he’s been waiting for – a rematch with Leon Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) for the welterweight title at UFC 304, which takes takes place on July 27 in Manchester, in Edwards’ home country of England.
Muhammad has a chance to win the UFC title thanks to a 10-fight unbeaten streak that includes wins over Gilbert Burns, Vicente Luque and Stephen Thompson. The only setback in the last five-plus years was a March 2021 no contest 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.
Before the rematch, Muhammad said he had the opportunity to train with former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and current lightweight champion Islam Makhachev – and praised them at the highest levels of a different sport.
“Whenever they’re around, I try to spend as much time with them as possible,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie. “I always say that one day training with Khabib is worth 100 days training with anyone else. The knowledge, just the energy you receive from them, is priceless. It’s always good to get an idea of them, to take advantage of this time.
“… Whenever you hang out with these guys – I’m training with the Michael Jordan of sports in Khabib, and Islam is basically like the LeBron James of sports. So it’s always good to feel that way with these guys.”
Edwards won the welterweight title with a stunning head knockout of Kamaru Usman in August 2022. He took a majority decision from him seven months later at UFC 286. Last December, Edwards defeated Colby Covington for another successful title defense. successful.
Muhammad has won five straight since no contesting Edwards. In all but one of them – a win over Demian Maia – he was a betting underdog. Still, he keeps raising his hand – against Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque, Sean Brady (his first loss) and Gilbert Burns.
Now, an extension of their winning streak will come with a historic piece of hardware. If that happens, he thinks working with Makhachev right before he puts his lightweight belt on the line next week against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 was a pivotal moment.
“It was cool to have the same mentality as Islam, who will fight next week,” Muhammad said. “Anytime you can be on the champion to feel that aura, it’s a great moment – especially for me, since this is my first title fight.
“Talking to them, seeing what they feel, asking Islam about his fight in Australia (against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284) and how he dealt with the time change and what he did there, what he ate for breakfast and stuff – it’s always good.”
For more information on the card, visit the MMA Junkie events hub to UFC 304.
