UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad has claimed he would vacate the belt if Islam Makhachev opted to move up to 170 pounds – and, in turn, Belal went up to middleweight.
As we know, Belal Muhammad is the king of the welterweights right now. He captured the belt from Leon Edwards, and he plans on defending it against Shavkat Rakhmonov at some point later this year.
Of course, one of the men who helped Belal Muhammad get to the top was Islam Makhachev. Muhammad began training with the team a few years back, and ever since then, he hasn’t lost a fight – and he’s been on quite the run of form.
In a recent interview, Belal Muhammad spoke about Makhachev potentially making the move up to welterweight in the future.
Belal Muhammad would vacate belt for Islam Makhachev
“I would never fight Islam because that’s different for me and him,” Muhammad said in an interview with Barstool Sports Chicago. “We’ve trained together, and when you’re sweating with somebody, and you’re bleeding with somebody, and you train with somebody like that, it’s just a different relationship. It wouldn’t be about the money for me or for him, I would assume.
“I would never want to do that, and they’ve helped me so much. So for me, I would rather go up to 185 pounds and let him just take 170 if that is the case. Since I’ve already had to fight my way up to 170, and I’ve beaten five of the top 10 guys, like I’m two fights away from being able to challenge at 185 and saying, ‘Yeah I want to be double champ.’”
Quotes via MMA Junkie
Who knows, maybe circumstances will change one day and we do get to see Belal Muhammad lock horns with the great Islam Makhachev.
