UFC Welterweight Champion Belal Muhammad made an sudden try and enter the Octagon final Saturday evening at UFC 310. He supposed to confront Shavkat Rakhmonov, who had simply defeated Ian Garry and is now positioned as the following contender for the title.
Nonetheless, cageside safety initially stopped Muhammad, seemingly failing to acknowledge him and suspecting he would possibly instigate a disturbance. After clarifying the scenario, the 170-pound kingpin was finally allowed into the cage.
Safety measures at UFC occasions have been heightened as a result of previous incidents involving fighters storming the Octagon and scary altercations. Addressing the confusion, Muhammad defined his facet of the story throughout an interview with The Schmo:
“Yeah, I don’t know, they thought I used to be gonna do. They thought I used to be pulling a Merab, like hopping over and going loopy or one thing like that,” Muhammad stated. “No, he known as me, bro! If somebody calls me into the cage, I’m gonna go in there, proper? I don’t suppose (safety) heard it, they didn’t notice what was occurring — they thought I used to be getting into to assault him. I’m identical to, bro, chill.”
The strain between Muhammad and Rakhmonov dates again to their initially scheduled matchup within the UFC 310 headliner, which was canceled after Muhammad withdrew as a result of a toe an infection.
Including to the drama, Leon Edwards responded to the incident on Instagram with a string of crying-laughing emojis beneath an ESPN submit.
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Muhammad’s surge to the welterweight mountaintop got here on the expense of Edwards this previous July. “Keep in mind the Identify” outpointed “Rocky” throughout 5 rounds within the UFC 304 important occasion, staged in Manchester, England.
Edwards has vowed to bounce again and regain the gold by the top of 2025. In the meanwhile, although, Muhammad seems to be set to have his arms full with Rakhmonov earlier than probably pondering a trilogy with the previous champ.
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