Belal Muhammad wants Sean Strickland to put his money where his mouth is.
Last week, Strickland found himself in a war of words with ex-Navy SEAL David Goggins. The fitness guru and ultramarathon runner issued a challenge to the former UFC middleweight champion — three days of training for three rounds of sparring.
It sounded like a solid deal, especially after all the trash Strickland had talked about Navy SEALs not being able to hang with him in the gym. However, ‘Tarzan’ backed down pretty quickly, apologizing to Goggins and explaining that he was just “bored and angry” while waiting around for his next UFC title shot.
On the other hand, top-ranked welterweight contender Belal Muhammad believes Strickland showed the world exactly who he is by tucking his tail and running.
“I wouldn’t call it a beef. That’s what Sean is, right? He’s a troll,” Muhammad told The Schmo. “Nobody cares what he says anymore because he doesn’t have the belt anymore. So now he’s just starting to attack all these other guys, people with bigger followings and things like that, just to get attention.
“I knew what he was from the beginning, he’s fake, he’s not this tough guy that he says he is, not this crazy guy that he says he is. He’s just doing stuff for clout. I mean if he’s a man, you challenged David Goggins, do David Goggins’ workout, let’s see if you can push through. Let’s see how big your heart is” (h/t Sherdog).
Belal Muhammad closes in on first UFC title fight
Muhammad will attempt to cash in on his first UFC title fight on July 27 when he heads to Manchester for a main event matchup with reigning welterweight world champion Leon Edwards. The fight has been a long time coming for ‘Remember The Name’ who is sitting on a nine-fight win streak, his last victory coming against Gilbert Burns all the way back in May 2023.
In December, ‘Rocky’ successfully defended his title for the second time with a decisive decision victory over Colby Covington at UFC 296.
Edwards and Muhammad previously met at a Fight Night event in 2021, but the bout came to an end 18 seconds into the second round when Edwards inadvertently poked ‘Bully B’ in the eye. With him unable to continue, the fight was declared a no-contest.
More than three years later, they’ll run it back in the UFC 304 headliner with the 170-pound crown hanging in the balance.