Issues are gonna change at 170 with Belal Muhammad as champion.
So sayeth Belal, who gained the welterweight title from Leon Edwards on the finish of July, however is already set to return and defend it in opposition to Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310, 4 months later. That’s a comparatively fast turnaround for a UFC champion as of late, and “Bear in mind The Title” says you may anticipate extra of that.
“I like to battle,” he informed Grind Metropolis Media. “It’s so exhausting to remain wholesome on this sport that if if I’m wholesome, I wanna be within the cage.”
“Individuals are like, ‘Oh, we thought you had been gonna wait a 12 months to defend and also you’re gonna push it longer as a result of it took you this lengthy to get in.’ Sitting on the sofa doesn’t get you paid, sitting on the sofa doesn’t make me completely happy. I wanna get completely happy by competing. I like to compete and it’s such a small window on this sport the place you don’t know what tomorrow is gonna maintain that I’d fairly keep busy.”
Muhammad pressured himself to attend for a promised title shot after beating Gilbert Burns at UFC 288. Fourteen months later he lastly made the perfect of his alternative at UFC 304. So he’s carried out ready round.
“The toughest factor for me was that wait,” he stated. “I wished to get into the cage. I wished to battle. After which for 2025, I’m making an attempt to get on that Alex Pereira schedule … subsequent 12 months for myself is simply staying busy.”
Muhammad is hoping that his willingness to remain energetic encourages the opposite high names at 170 to battle as properly. Welterweight has grow to be a little bit of a logjam on the high with a number of fighters seeming content material to squat on their rating.
“I believe after Shavkat a few of these different guys need to battle one another,” Belal stated. “A few of these guys need to compete and we’re gonna see extra of a clearer highway of what a primary contender is within the division. Now that I’m busy, it’s gonna make them wanna get busier. And I believe we’re gonna see who’s the following ones up.”
Muhammad vs. Rakhmonov goes down as the primary occasion of UFC 310 on December seventh in Las Vegas, Nevada. The percentages are in opposition to Belal successful, however when is that not the case?
