Belal Muhammad thinks he’s a funny guy.
Wednesday was a busy day for UFC as CEO Dana White delivered a series of blockbuster announcements, including news of Muhammad’s first defense of his welterweight title. In July, ‘Remember The Name’ delivered a mostly dominant performance against Leon Edwards to claim his first UFC gold.
Now, he’ll put it on the line against the division’s fourth-ranked contender, Jack Della Maddalena, at UFC 315 in Montreal.
The announcement came out of left field considering Maddalena was actually scheduled to headline the promotion’s return to London next month against none other than Leon Edwards.
Instead, ‘Rocky’ will now square off with Sean Brady inside the iconic O2 Arena while Maddalena will get promoted to his inaugural title opportunity on MMA’s biggest stage.
Following the announcement, Muhammad went on social media and threw some shade at the man he took the welterweight belt from last year.
Dang I stole Leon’s belt and his opponent,” Muhammad wrote on X.
Belal Muhammad looks to hand JDM his first loss inside the Octagon
Muhammad was originally scheduled to defend his belt in December against Shavkat Rakhmonov, but he was forced to bow out of the bout due to an infection in his foot. Unfortunately, ‘Nomad’ revealed that he was still nursing an injury and would be unable to go on May 10 when the UFC heads back to the Bell Centre.
Enter Jack Della Maddalena.
The Australian knockout artist is a perfect 7-0 under the UFC banner, including a third-round TKO over one-time title challenger Gilbert Burns in his last outing at UFC 299.
