MANCHESTER, England – Belal Muhammad will battle Shavkat Rakhmonov and any No. 1 contender after UFC 304.
Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) dethroned Leon Edwards (22-4 MMA, 14-3 UFC) to change into welterweight champion in Saturday’s most important occasion at Co-op Reside in Manchester, England.
Muhammad was instantly referred to as out by Rakhamonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), and the brand new champion welcomes the problem.
“Congratulations in your well-deserved victory, @bullyb170! I hope you retain your phrase and defend your title towards me while you’re prepared, champ.”
Congratulations in your well-deserved victory, @bullyb170! I hope you retain your phrase and defend your title towards me while you’re prepared, champ
— Shavkat “Nomad” Rakhmonov (@Rakhmonov1994) July 28, 2024
“Yeah, after all,” Muhammad mentioned on combating Rakhmonov on the UFC 304 post-fight information convention. “I’ve actually by no means turned down a battle. I’ve by no means backed down from anyone. I had so many individuals flip down fights towards me so, now I’m on the prime. I’m the person and for me, now it’s cementing my legacy as the very best welterweight to ever do it.
“I’m not going to sit down there and name out these random guys. Who’s subsequent in line, who’s finest in line. I’m going to indicate you who I’m, what I can do. They thought Leon may stroll by me, now I’m going to stroll by all these different guys.”
It was a protracted watch for Muhammad to each get a title shot, and get the chance run issues again with Edwards after their March 2021 battle was dominated a no contest. Muhammad misplaced the primary spherical earlier than getting poked within the eye simply 18 seconds into Spherical 2, and needed to spend years listening to individuals inform him he was en path to getting beat.
“I believe I’m the very best fighter on this planet, I do know I’m the very best fighter on this planet, I simply needed to show it and I needed to present you guys,” Muhammad mentioned. “We had three years to sit down there and I needed to dwell on that factor.
“That final battle of everyone saying, ‘Oh, he would have beat him, he would have gained the final different rounds.’ We didn’t even get began in that battle. This battle we acquired began. We simply dominated the champion. We made it look simple and we did it higher than Colby (Covington) did, higher than Usman did.”
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