It’s rare that a week goes by where Sean Strickland isn’t starting up a new beef with someone via social media. Whether he’s trading words with someone online or causing controversy by sparring someone that is not skilled enough to be in there with him, the former UFC middleweight champion is always producing talking points. […]
One fellow member of the roster is tired of Strickland’s antics and believes that he is only doing this to make himself heard – since he isn’t the champion anymore.
Belal Muhammad Says Sean Strickland Is Chasing Clout After Losing UFC Title
Belal Muhammad spoke in a recent interview with The Schmo about his thoughts on Strickland’s recent beef with Goggins.
The number one welterweight contender has never seen eye-to-eye with the often unfiltered former champion and this is no different.
Muhammad, who is set to challenge Leon Edwards for the title at UFC 304 later this month, is very much over what he sees as Strickland’s attempts to grab more attention.
He also dared Strickland to take Goggins up on his offer in order to really put his money where his mouth is.
“I wouldn’t call it a [real] beef. That’s what Sean is right? He’s a troll. Nobody cares what he says anymore because he doesn’t have the belt anymore. so now he’s just starting to attack these other guys 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 or this crazy guy that he says he is. He’s just doing stuff for clout and if he’s a man, challenge David Goggins dude… David Goggins’ workout, let’s see if you push through. Let’s see how big your heart is.”
Former UFC title challenger Din Thomas believes Belal Muhammad has traveled a path of unprecedented difficulty in order to secure a first shot at gold. Muhammad, who currently occupies the #2 spot at 170 pounds, is less than two weeks out from his long-awaited maiden title opportunity, which he’s been calling for and working toward […]
Former UFC title challenger Din Thomas believes Belal Muhammad has traveled a path of unprecedented difficulty in order to secure a first shot at gold.
Muhammad, who currently occupies the #2 spot at 170 pounds, is less than two weeks out from his long-awaited maiden title opportunity, which he’s been calling for and working toward for a number of years.
Since eye pokes resulted in a no contest when Muhammad and Edwards first shared the cage back in 2021, the former has won five straight, bringing his overall unbeaten streak to 10.
After statement wins over Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque, and Sean Brady, Muhammad most recently staked his claim with a convincing five-round display opposite Gilbert Burns last May.
While that result left him as the clear top contender in the eyes of many, Muhammad was left waiting while Colby Covington received his third shot at the undisputed throne.
Thomas: Muhammad Has Been ‘Cutting His Teeth On Doing Everything He Needs To’
After stressing the importance of Muhammad not allowing Edwards any breathing room on fight night, Thomas acknowledged the trials and tribulations that have gone into securing this moment for the challenger.
“He’s gotta go out there and put pressure on Leon. He’s gotta put pressure on him and keep pressure on him for five rounds,” Thomas said. “His body of work over the last few fights, over the last few years, and the improvements that he’s made has shown that he can do exactly that.
“He’s been training with the Dagestani wrestlers. He’s been cutting his teeth on doing everything he needs to do in order to get this shot,” Thomas continued. “No one has probably earned a shot like he has in the UFC in the history of people deserving shots.”
Having finally booked his place opposite Edwards inside the Octagon, Muhammad will hope to make the most of the opportunity by leaving hostile territory with the welterweight gold in his possession.
Welcome to MMA News Today, a daily feature running down the most interesting stories in the world of mixed martial arts. For July 15, 2024, we’re taking a look at: Dan Hooker Says Israel Adesanya Is Hitting Too Hard For Them To Spar One Another When Israel Adesanya returns at UFC 305 to try and recapture the middleweight […]
Welcome to MMA News Today, a daily feature running down the most interesting stories in the world of mixed martial arts. For July 15, 2024, we’re taking a look at:
Hooker says Adesanya sparring isn’t on his wish list right now
Anik never lets his relationships affect his commentary
Blaydes says he’s keeping things simple ahead of Aspinall rematch
Dan Hooker Says Israel Adesanya Is Hitting Too Hard For Them To Spar One Another
When Israel Adesanya returns at UFC 305 to try and recapture the middleweight title against Dricus Du Plessis, he will do so off the back of his longest break between fights since signing with the promotion.
In a recent interview with Submission Radio, his City Kickboxing teammate Dan Hooker spoke about how Adesanya has been bulking up outside of training camp.
The lightweight contender, who has sparred with the former middleweight champion for a long time, said that his fellow New Zealander is starting to pack too much of a punch for him to trade shots with.
“I can’t even be bothered sparring him at the moment like the way he’s hitting. I think he’s like 105 kilos [around 230 pounds], I’m just like f******, kicked me in the leg and I was like ‘get f*****!’. He’s had some time off, he was carrying some injuries, he spent a lot of time just packing on some size and like a lot of strength bro and he’s hitting like a truck man. I can’t even be bothered sparring him… like he’s hitting too hard.”
Jon Anik Says Relationship With Belal Muhammad Won’t Affect His UFC 304 Commentary
It’s only natural for UFC commentators to have relationships and friendships with some of the fighters that are signed to the roster.
This is especially difficult in a sport like MMA where the highs are so high and the lows are so low but Jon Anik always looks to separate his work from his personal feelings.
Anik spoke in a recent interview with InsideFighting about how he always looks to serve the moment and both fighters as best as he can, regardless of whether he has personal connections to them.
“No, I feel like once the athlete hits the tunnel, any of those types of feeling or emotions go away. As I’ve said repeatedly, Dominick Cruz is probably the guy I’m closest to, I mean Belal’s obviously right there on his heels as are other athletes.
“you establish a lot of interpersonal relationship and you can’t help that but it certainly doesn’t affect the call. I can assure you and everybody else if Leon Edwards head kicks Belal Muhammad into oblivion, my call is going to reflect that and there was nothing hard about me screaming with veins popping out of my mouth, ‘Stipe gets his revenge’, even though he did it against Daniel Cormier.”
Curtis Blaydes Isn’t Adjusting His Approach For Fighting Tom Aspinall At UFC 304
In the co-main event in Manchester, Tom Aspinall’s interim heavyweight title will be on the line when he faces Curtis Blaydes in a rematch.
Blaydes, who is now a 22-fight veteran, has faced the majority of the top names at heavyweight at this stage.
Rather than working specifically on his opponent’s approach, Blaydes simply looks to bring the best version of himself to England in order to come away with the win.
“Conditioning (has been the focus in camp). That’s the same old,” Blaydes said. “I don’t adjust for anyone. I have prepared for this fight the same way I prepare for everyone. I don’t like to add extra adjustments, extra things to think about. There’s already a whole lot, we don’t need to add anything else.
“Just a normal, standard fight camp,” Blaydes continued. “Eight weeks of sparring, drilling, running, icing; normal stuff.”
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.
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.
Kamaru Usman, the man Edwards took the title off of with the “kick heard around the world” at UFC 278, offered his assessment of the UFC 304 headliner, suggesting that it’s a tough one to call considering both men have been on the shelf for some time.
However, he does believe that a win for ‘Rocky’ will help push his former foe’s name up the coveted P4P rankings.
“I like Leon being a champion, I think he definitely has real skills but as a fan now, I’m frustrated as a fan because this fight should have happened already,” Usman said.
“It’s been such a long time but I’m glad that we were finally about to get the fight and for Leon to actually go in there and prove to people that he is high up on that pound-for-pound list because you know, I got my reservations on the order of that list” (h/t Bloody Elbow).
Leon Edwards’ is often touted as one of the best fighters on the planet courtesy of his technical prowess that has dismantled some of the biggest names in the game. Unfortunately, ‘Rocky’ hasn’t exactly lit up the Octagon with his performances. In particular, his trilogy fight with the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ at UFC 286 and his uneventful showdown with Colby Covington last December.
Usman hopes to see the “killer” in Leon Edwards come out against Belal Muhammad when the champ competes in front of his home country at Co-op Live in the UK.
“I think it’s a good fight, I like the confident way in that Leon is carrying [himself], I think he understands the responsibility of being a champion, how you kind of have to train the mentality that you have to have,” Usman added. “Just a little thing that I would like to see from him is that killer come out because if you know that you’re the top dog, you got to prove it to each and every contender who wants your spot.”
Kamaru Usman is not a fan of leon edwards and Belal Muhammad waiting so long to fight
While neither Leon Edwards nor Belal Muhammad has fought in 2024, ‘Remember The Name’ will be returning after an especially long layoff, having last fought at UFC 288 all the way back in May 2023. On that night, Muhammad scored a big win over Gilbert Burns, extending his unbeaten streak to nine straight.
With the UFC choosing to hand Covington another unearned title opportunity in December, Muhammad opted to sit out instead of putting his spot on the line against another top-10 contender. Some might consider that a smart decision, but Usman believes there are benefits to staying active in the fight game.
“The one thing that I don’t like about this is the layoff, the time that these guys are sitting [out],” Usman said. “This is why boxers are fighting every other month, they’re fighting [often] because that’s how you get into your groove, that’s how you elevate yourself to see if all the stuff that you’ve been working on can actually work.
“When you have these long layoffs and you get in there, your timing is a little bit off, you’re a little gun-shy sometimes, and especially if you’re a champion when you have this long layoff – that mountain of defending starts to get heavier, and heavier, and heavier.”
Belal Muhammad wants Sean Strickland to put his money where his mouth is. Last week, Strickland found himself in…
Leon Edwards is less than two weeks away from his next big title defense. Headlining the promotion’s return to…
