Newly crowned UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad is hopeful to eventually fight Dricus du Plessis for the middleweight title.
Muhammad scored an upset win over Edwards in the main event of UFC 304 on Saturday in Manchester to win the welterweight title. It was a stunning performance from Muhammad and after the win, he called out du Plessis as he eventually wants to be a champ-champ.
“I just want to be the guy that did everything you said I couldn’t do. Then if we go up and if, what’s his name, Dricus [Du Plessis] still has the title, he beats, what’s his face, [Israel] Adesanysa, he was trying to talk tough to me, I’ll go smack him around, try to get two belts,” Muhammad said after UFC 304, via Sportskeeda.
Although he would be open to fighting du Plessis, Belal Muhammad makes it clear he is looking to defend his multiple times. Muhammad mentions Shavkat Rakhmonov, Ian Garry, and Jack Della Maddalena to prove he is that good.
“I think beating this next generation of guys,” Muhammad said, via MMAFighting. “You have Shavkat, you have Ian Garry, you have ‘JDM.’ So there’s these young up-and-comers that everybody’s saying are killers. They’re probably still saying these guys are going to kill me next, right? So if I go out there and I walk through all these guys and then I beat the old generation, there’s really — I just want to be the guy that did everything that you said I couldn’t do.”
Belal Muhammad doesn’t think Leon Edwards should get an immediate rematch
After the win at UFC 304, Belal Muhammad made it clear that Leon Edwards should not get an immediate rematch.
Muhammad believes how dominant the fight was should rule out an immediate rematch, as he thinks Edwards will need to work his way back up.
“Yeah, I’ll give him a rematch in three years,” Muhammad said. “Let him work his way back up. I think it was a dominant fight. There’s really no need for a rematch and I don’t think he had that long reign of a champion where he’s entitled to a rematch. For me, I came to his hometown in front of his people and in enemy territory, so it was all a layup for him. But I blocked it.”
Ultimately, it is likely Muhammad’s first title defense will be against Rakhmonov.