UFC Welterweight Champion Belal Muhammad pondered drastic measures in a bid to keep his scheduled title defense at the final pay-per-view of 2024 intact.
Saturday will see Muhammad’s next opponent in 2025 decided, as undefeated contenders Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Garry do battle in the co-main event of UFC 310 at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.
For Rakhmonov, the bout will see him attempt to regain his status as number one contender. The Kazakh star had already earned his shot at UFC gold and was set to challenge Muhammad in the Dec. 7 headliner.
Last month, however, disaster struck when a bone infection to the champ’s toe hospitalized him and forced a change of plans.
If Muhammad’s frustration at the cancellation wasn’t clear enough, a recent revelation surrounding the lengths he was willing to go to make the walk at UFC 310 should do the trick…
During an interview with MMA Junkie on the red carpet for the annual World MMA Awards, Muhammad revealed that he enquired about having the infected toe removed to speed up the recovery process.
“It got to the point where I was like, ‘Bro, what if you got rid of the toe? What do I need to do to get back in there as quickly as possible?’” Muhammad said. “But the way the doctor was saying it, it was like a bone infection. So it wasn’t like people were saying, ‘Oh, you got a broken toe.’ I’m like, bro, if it was a toe? I had a broken toe for over a year.
“And then that toe got infected because of that, so that went directly into the bone and it was climbing up the foot. So he was like, ‘Bro, you’ll get your foot amputated.’ It ain’t that. So for me it’s like, it was heartbreaking obviously, but just trusting God, trusting God has a plan for me, knowing that everything happens for a reason. And now that I look at it from a bigger picture side, I’m hoping that there’s a reason for it.”
That ultimately wasn’t a possibility, forcing Muhammad to bite the bullet and put a delay to his first defense of the 170-pound title.
“Remember the Name” captured champ status with a dominant display against the odds this past July in Manchester, where he comfortably outpointed Leon Edwards across five rounds.
With many backing Rakhmonov to get past Garry this weekend before unseating Muhammad, the reigning kingpin will look to once again prove his doubters wrong when he returns to full fitness.