With so much debate on who should get first crack at Muhammad, the welterweight champ suggested Usman and Rakhmonov should fight for the No. 1 contender’s spot.
Belal Muhammad just won the UFC welterweight title a month ago, but he’s already being accused of ducking fighters and going back on his word to be an active champion.
Things got a bit contentious between Muhammad and No. 1 contender Shavkat Rakhmonov after “Remember The Name” said he’d prefer fighting former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman next rather than the tough Kazakh “Nomad.”
Now Shavkat is calling Belal out for turning down a title fight against him at UFC 307 in Salt Lake City.
Shavkat Rakhmonov claims Belal Muhammad turned down a proposed title fight in October:
“He declined to fight me due to the timing issues. … Whenever he’s ready, I’m in.”
( : @MikeHeck_JR) pic.twitter.com/nJu6pPEgkF
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) August 30, 2024
“Actually I’ve already been offered a fight to fight Belal, and I accepted the fight against Belal,” Rakhmonov said through a translator (via MMA Fighting). “Unfortunately he declined to fight me due to the title issues. He wasn’t ready to defend his belt on that time, so we’ll see what’s going to happen and when he’s gonna be ready so I will be able to fight him.
“He became a champion and after he won the belt he said he was going to be an active champion and he will defend his belt more often. But at this moment he wasn’t living up to what he said.”
To be fair to Muhammad, that’s a tight turnaround for most fighters, let alone a champion. UFC 307 is coming up on October 5th, which is just 70 days after Muhammad fought Leon Edwards for five rounds at UFC 304.
Dana be like… pic.twitter.com/nGmmli01rw
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) August 31, 2024
“Inactive? Lol I’m still on trial and Shavkat hasn’t fought since 2023,” Belal responded on X (formerly Twitter). “I think Shavkat and Usman should fight to find the real number one contender.”
Unfortunately, “Bully B” doesn’t call the shots. That’s Dana White’s job, and “Remember The Name” has admitted the only name he’s hearing from the UFC CEO is Shavkat Rakhmonov. A recent photoshop he posted had Dana as Mobius from the Matrix offering him two ‘pills’: a red Shavkat head and a blue one.
At least if he takes the blue pill, the story doesn’t end: he just fights the extremely tough “Nomad” with a proper break and full training camp.