Newly-crowned UFC welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad, was expected to make his first 170-pound title defense against undefeated division contender, Shavkat Rakhmonov, atop the UFC 310 pay-per-view (PPV) card last month in Las Vegas; however, a nasty bone infection bounced “Remember the Name” from the “Sin City” lineup.
Rakhmonov remained on the card to defeat top prospect Ian Garry.
“Right after Ramadan, I think. May, June, is the perfect timeline for me,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie about his Octagon return. “I started last week training with those guys down in Vegas. That was a nice shock to the body. It got me awoken. It let me know, ‘All right, we’ve got to get in shape-shape. So it just feels good to be training. I was at the PI. I was doing therapy everyday over there, so my body is finally getting back to normal and finally getting back to where it was.”
Muhammad was recently spotted training with the stars of UFC 311.
“We look at our strategy and what we thought before the (Garry) fight was going to work, and we saw it play out in that fight, and we think is still going to work,” Muhammad continued. “I don’t think [Shavkat’s] ever fought anybody like me. There’s not a lot of guys who ever fought a guy like me, so once you get into the cage with me, it’s different. He’s going to get into the cage with me, realize it’s different, and there’s levels to this. I’m going to show the world why I’m the best welterweight in the world.”
Muhammad, 36, has not competed since his championship victory over Leon Edwards in the UFC 304 main event last July in Manchester, a five-round performance that pushed “Remember the Name” to 24-3 with one No Contest. The promotion will likely make an announcement regarding Muhammad’s return in the coming weeks.