Muhammad will weigh in and be ready to fight should anything happen to Edwards or Covington at the last second.
It’s official: Belal Muhammad will be weighing in for UFC 296 and serving as the back-up fighter should anything happen to the event’s Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington welterweight title fight.
Muhammad announced the news to MMA Junkie over the weekend, revealing he’s been training hard and staying in shape over the past months just in case the UFC needed a short-notice replacement. That diligence paid off when the UFC called him to be the contingency plan for Saturday’s main event in Las Vegas.
“They just hit me up Friday, asked me if I’m willing to weigh in for next week,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie’s Farah Hannoun. “I think obviously they know Colby and Leon are the two most inactive welterweights in the division. Neither of these guys likes to fight. They’re both good at running. So just to be on the safe side, they called the dude that always steps up whenever needed.”
Muhammad is ranked No. 2 in the division, sandwiched between No. 1 Kamaru Usman and No. 3 Colby Covington. He’s on a nine-fight win streak and most recently beat Gilbert Burns at UFC 288 to secure a title shot. The only problem? Colby Covington was already promised dibs, setting “Remember The Name” up for a long and uncertain wait.
Now Belal will have the chance to insert himself into the UFC 296 storyline and make sure no one forgets he’s up next.