I feared Dana White wouldn’t give me a UFC title shot, but Khabib’s words of wisdom changed everything, says Muhammad

BELAL MUHAMMAD finally gets the shot at UFC gold he thought would never materialize at UFC 304 this weekend.

After being overlooked as an opponent in Leon Edwards’ second title defense at UFC 296 last December, ‘Remember the Name’ will get his chance against the Brit on Sunday morning.

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It’s been a long time coming for Muhammad, who, if we lived in the promotion’s old meritocratic days, would have stood on the other side of the Octagon, opposite Edwards, after defeating up-and-coming prospect Sean Brady last October.

A well-deserved and seemingly elusive title shot did not appear for the Palestinian-American after his defeat of Brady in Abu Dhabi.

And he admits he thought Dana White and UFC bosses would never give him a chance at glory, especially after the veteran promoter told him he would need “one more” win after defeating Brady.

He told SunSport: “There were many moments [where I thought I wasn’t going to get the fight].

“There were a lot of those moments where you look at it and go, ‘Bro, what? It will never happen, it won’t happen.’

“Especially after beating Sean Brady the way I beat him. It was like, ‘Bro, let’s go.’

“And then you had to have the rematch with Usman and Leon and then Leon takes forever to fight.

“I love fighting, I love being in the cage – especially when I’m healthy. So I want to stay active.

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“But I have great mentors and coaches around me telling me, ‘Be patient, it will happen at the right time.’ Have faith in God and trust in his plan, no matter what happens.

“I even had a meeting with Dana White after the Sean Brady fight and he said, ‘I don’t know, I think we just need one more fight that’s going to leave you on edge.

“And you’re like, ‘Bro.'”

That “one more” ended up being a last-minute victory over former title challenger Gilbert Burns.

Muhammad, like many fight fans, felt it was right to fight Edwards after defeating Burns in Newark last May.

The UFC, however, chose to give Colby Covington one last shot at the belt last December.

And they even ignored him when he tried to face Edwards in the main fight of UFC 300, offering title fights to Shavkat Rakhmonov, Khamzat Chimaev and lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.

Muhammad, understandably, became frustrated for the second time that his bosses ignored him.

But he was in a better position to manage his frustrations the second time around, following a conversation with former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

He continued: “So they call you three weeks in advance to fight Gilbert Burns.

“And you’re like, ‘Do you want to risk everything three weeks in advance during Ramadan to fight Gilbert Burns?’

“And then it was like, I think it happened for a reason, it was for that moment.

“And then I go out and beat him and then all of a sudden you still have to wait another year for Colby and Leon to fight and you still have all the skeptics and naysayers saying, ‘You don’t deserve this.’

“Or make excuses for why you won that fight or that fight. It was hard, but having that little circle around me, keeping me strong and faithful, helped.

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“And Khabib literally told me right after he beat Gilbert, ‘This will be your longest wait.

“’Before you fight for the title, it will be a long wait. So be patient, be patient.’

“So having guys like that to be able to talk to and get advice from meant a lot.”

Muhammad will enter his first title fight on a five-fight winning streak that includes victories over the likes of Stephen Thompson and Demian Maia.

He will also have the experience of sharing the octagon with Edwards in March 2021, which ended prematurely when he received an accidental eye poke in the second round.

Edwards believes he was destined to win the fight, as he hurt Muhammad with a head kick in the first round.

Muhammad, who has made a huge leap since their first meeting, expects the champion to enter the fight in Manchester with the same confidence.

“I hope he leaves with the same mentality,” he said. “I hope he thinks it will be an easy fight.

“Even in that first fight, when you’re going back and watching it, he had a moment. It was a kick to the head.

“There was nothing else in that first round where you thought, ‘Oh, this is a 10-8 round.’

“It was still a 10-9 round on the judges’ scorecards. He beat me by six strikes. And in general, I’m a fast-paced guy.

“And that was before, you know, Leon was away for two years before that. So for us it was, ‘Let’s see what Leon comes out with. [with].

“’Let’s see what Leon shows up today, what he’s going to bring, what new style he brings.’

“So it was to start at a slow pace. I hope he thinks, ‘Okay, let’s follow suit.’

“And I’m even saying to myself, ‘I want to come out here and lose the first round against Leon in this fight just to show him – okay, you won the first round now, see what I do. next four.'”