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Kamaru Usman and Belal Muhammad are continuing to engage with one another in back-and-forth comments. The welterweight champion has made it clear that it’s his preference to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov next, despite the undefeated contender claiming…
Kamaru Usman and Belal Muhammad are continuing to engage with one another in back-and-forth comments. The welterweight champion has made it clear that it’s his preference to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov next, despite the undefeated contender claiming that Muhammad turned the fight down for UFC 307 due to the quick turnaround. Though Usman hasn’t totally pushed […]
Continue Reading Kamaru Usman Fires Back At Belal Muhammad For ‘Corny, Weak’ Diss Track, Clarifies Next Steps at MMA News.
Kamaru Usman and Canelo Alvarez have officially squashed their beef. Chances are, you completely forgot the two combat sports…
Kamaru Usman and Canelo Alvarez have officially squashed their beef.
Chances are, you completely forgot the two combat sports icons were even feuding. A few years back when ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ was reigning over the UFC’s welterweight division, he began to relentlessly call for a crossover boxing bout with the sports’ top star.
Alvarez largely ignored Usman’s prodding on social media aside from the occasional dig accusing Usman of fishing for a bigger payday.
Fast forward to 2024, Usman hosted Alvarez on his popular Pound 4 Pound podcast with co-host Henry Cejudo. There to promote his upcoming clash with Edgar Berlanga on September 14 in Las Vegas, Alvarez, and Usman were quick to address the elephant in the room.
“Obviously, when I was champion in the UFC, I was welterweight champion of the world, and you dominated as champion in boxing, there were some talks about potentially fighting,” Usman said. “First and foremost, I’m a fan of yours. I’m a fan of your work and everything you’ve done in the sport of boxing. I think it’s important for us to clear the air and have this type of conversation” (h/t MMA Junkie).
Usman went on to explain that the callouts were never meant to be personal. He simply wanted to test himself against the best of the best and, as Alvarez suspected, secure a big bag while doing it.
“Obviously we’re competitors, and we want to compete, and of course when we started this competition in our respective sports, we didn’t necessarily get in it for money, you get into it to be the best at it, to compete,” Usman continued. “But then you get to a certain point where, ‘Hey, the paycheck makes it worthwhile.’ All the years that you work, and you put into it, the paycheck makes it worthwhile.
“You were in a spot where you were dominating everyone to the point the question was being asked, ‘Who else can challenge this guy? Is there anything that anyone has for him?’ At that moment, I threw my hat in, let me at least give him a different look. I’m not a technical boxer. I feel like you know all the pieces of the puzzle when it comes to boxing. … I felt that mine is different.
“I’m a mixed martial artist. I’m an MMA fighter. They might come slower, but the combinations might be different from what you’re used to. So that’s why I threw my hand in the mix and said I’d love to give him something different, a different look. And who knows, at the end of the day, we know as fighters anything can happen in a fight. That’s what it was. I hope there’s no hard feelings because I respect you as a fighter.”
Alvarez holds no hard feelings towards Usman but doubled down on his belief that the former UFC champion has no business challenging him inside the squared circle. Usman echoed a similar sentiment while discussing the notion of Alvarez testing himself in the Octagon.
“No hard feelings,” Alvarez said. “I think this is a beautiful sport, and you’re the best in your sport, and I’m the best in my sport, and I respect that. We’re never going to know because we never made the fight, but I always said that’s why you chose MMA and I chose boxing. If I go in there with you in an MMA fight, it’s going to be different. If you come to my sport, it’s going to be different. I know the mentality of, ‘I can do it. I can do this,’ but when you go in the ring it’s very different.”
Welterweight champion Belal Muhammad has been trading some comments with the title’s former holder, Kamaru Usman. Despite being without a win since his second victory over Colby Covington, “The Nigerian Nightmare” is still very much in the title mix at 170-pounds. He may have lost back-to-back fights against Leon Edwards and came up short when […]
Continue Reading UFC Champion Feels Kamaru Usman’s Legacy Doesn’t Compare With Israel Adesanya Or Alexander Volkanovski at MMA News.
Welterweight champion Belal Muhammad has been trading some comments with the title’s former holder, Kamaru Usman.
Despite being without a win since his second victory over Colby Covington, “The Nigerian Nightmare” is still very much in the title mix at 170-pounds.
He may have lost back-to-back fights against Leon Edwards and came up short when attempting to beat Khamzat Chimaev up a weight class on late notice, but his prior winning streak in the division speaks for itself.
Muhammad, however, doesn’t have the same kind of respect for the run that Usman went on, mostly because of his conduct when he was the champion.
Muhammad always felt that during his own welterweight winning streak, he was being overlooked by the guys at the top who didn’t want to fight him.
He had this issue with Edwards before they met in a rematch at UFC 304 and he has the same problem with Usman.
In an interview with Submission Radio, he spoke about why he doesn’t believe that the former champion deserves another shot at the title without returning to the win column first.
The current titleholder, who appears to be facing Shavkat Rakhmonov next, says that Usman chose to ignore him and other viable contenders like Vicente Luque in order to take bigger money fights against the likes of Jorge Masvidal.
Comparing Usman to other long-reigning champions of this era in Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski, Muhammad believes that he isn’t in the same conversation because he picked opponents instead of fighting the next best guy at all times.
“If you wanted to cement yourself as the best welterweight, you do what Adesanya did or Volkanovski, who’s the next best guy. Who’s the guy that’s right there and he didn’t do that. So for him to say like now he’s calling my name, like oh now you noticed me because I have the target on my back but before you act like you didn’t know who I was. I’ve been chasing you, I’ve been here, I’ve been talking.”
Continue Reading UFC Champion Feels Kamaru Usman’s Legacy Doesn’t Compare With Israel Adesanya Or Alexander Volkanovski at MMA News.
There has been a lot of conversation over the past week about whether there will be a surprise next contender for the welterweight title. Shavkat Rakhmonov is the clear top pick to challenge Belal Muhammad next and according to him, he was already offered the fight but it didn’t come together. Some have debated whether […]
Continue Reading Belal Muhammad Chooses Shavkat Rakhmonov Over Kamaru Usman For Title Defense: ‘Looks Exactly Like The Leon Fight…’ at MMA News.
There has been a lot of conversation over the past week about whether there will be a surprise next contender for the welterweight title.
Shavkat Rakhmonov is the clear top pick to challenge Belal Muhammad next and according to him, he was already offered the fight but it didn’t come together.
Some have debated whether Kamaru Usman’s pedigree in the sport and strong relationship with the UFC could be enough for him to get the next shot despite the fact he is winless in his last three Octagon appearances.
The champion himself gave his thoughts on this where he clarified why in his opinion, Rakhmonov is next in line.
In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Muhammad gave his thoughts on who he believes he will be fighting next.
Along with one option being more credible because of their current form, the champion also believes that fans would look to detract from his achievements if he were to defeat Usman, which means he finds himself more motivated to go the opposite way.
“Remember The Name” went with the consensus opinion that Rakhmonov deserves the opportunity but rather than totally disregarding Usman, he explained why in his opinion, “The Nigerian Nightmare” isn’t the front-runner at this time.
“I think it would just be, for me, if Usman didn’t lose to Khamzat and take that fight, but people forget it was a short notice fight, that would be the fight because he only lost to Leon. But, now he lost three in a row, I think he would need another win. So for me now, it’s all right, Shavkat is the boogeyman that they all think is unbeatable and now I’m getting freaking a thousand comments on my Instagram page anytime I post anything, from the ‘Shavkatians’, so yeah I think for me, it would be another one of those tests to prove people wrong, to shut them up right.
“My last five or six fights, everybody thought I was gonna get killed, they thought I was gonna lose so he’s another guy that I go out there and I smash him, what’s your excuse gonna be? If I go out there and I beat Usman, it’s like, ‘Well he’s on a three-fight losing streak, he’s done, he has no knees, you just beat a bum.’ But if I go out there and I beat Shavkat, they’re gonna be like what? Nothing. He was undefeated, he has all finishes so now that’s the guy that I’m putting my sights on.”
Muhammad also broke down how he sees the fight against Rakhmonov playing out when they do eventually meet inside the Octagon.
He said that this fight will look similar to his title-winning display at UFC 304 and referenced his win over Sean Brady to explain why he believes he will be the one to hand the unbeaten contender his first loss.
“Honestly I think it looks exactly like the Leon fight. I think I dominate him everywhere. For me, I have a different style every single fight.
“Shavkat looks like he’s not uncomfortable now because he’s undefeated but these undefeated guys, like I dealt with with Sean Brady, I know how to make them uncomfortable and once I make them uncomfortable, I know how to break them.”
Continue Reading Belal Muhammad Chooses Shavkat Rakhmonov Over Kamaru Usman For Title Defense: ‘Looks Exactly Like The Leon Fight…’ at MMA News.
Belal Muhammad defeated Leon Edwards via unanimous decision at UFC 304 to win the UFC welterweight championship. Many expected Edwards to defend the title comfortably, but Muhammad out-struck the champ and secured over 12 minutes of control time with nine takedowns. There’s no shortage of contenders for the new champion at welterweight. While Gilbert Burns, […]
Continue Reading Belal Muhammad Claims Kamaru Usman Is A Harder Fight Than Shavkat Rakhmonov: ‘One Of The Best IQs In The Game’ at MMA News.
Belal Muhammad defeated Leon Edwards via unanimous decision at UFC 304 to win the UFC welterweight championship. Many expected Edwards to defend the title comfortably, but Muhammad out-struck the champ and secured over 12 minutes of control time with nine takedowns.
There’s no shortage of contenders for the new champion at welterweight. While Gilbert Burns, Ian Garry, and Jack Della Maddalena are potentially one good win away from a title shot, Shavkat Rakhmonov is seen as the clear contender since his submission of Stephen Thompson.
Rakhmonov, with his 100% finish rate, is one of the most intimidating prospects in the UFC, but Muhammad thinks that Kamaru Usman will be a tougher fight for him…
Muhammad recently discussed his first title defense on the Submission Radio YouTube channel. Despite constantly trolling Usman since winning the title, he admitted that Rakhmonov deserves a title shot most. The former UFC welterweight kingpin, in his opinion, needs to get back into the win column after losing three fights in a row.
Muhammad doesn’t underestimate Usman as an opponent, though. He acknowledges that the “Nigerian Nightmare” has a ton of experience fighting top-level competition and is one of the smartest fighters inside the Octagon.
Here’s how the champ responded when asked about the tougher opponent between Rakhmonov and Usman:
“Honestly, I would say Kamaru. Just because he’s fought the highest level for so long. And, stylistically, he has one of the best IQs in the game. So, I think, for me, fighting somebody with the close to an IQ of myself would be a harder fight.”
“Remember the Name” also looked back at Usman’s short-notice bout against Khamzat Chimaev. Like many, he was impressed by the former UFC welterweight kingpin’s performance against “Borz” and believes the fight could’ve gone the other way if there were two more rounds.
Like Usman, Muhammad claimed that MMA fans usually forget how good fighters are as soon as they lose a fight.
“He still has tread on his tires. People will sit there and say, like, you said, people must have forgot, right? And its, people are quick to forget about you but he fought that fight with Khamzat on eight days’ notice and it was a game of inches in that fight, right? It could, if it was two more rounds in there, I would’ve been very interested to see how it would have went.”
Continue Reading Belal Muhammad Claims Kamaru Usman Is A Harder Fight Than Shavkat Rakhmonov: ‘One Of The Best IQs In The Game’ at MMA News.
Shavkat Rakhmonov sees himself as the clear No. 1 contender and next in line for a welterweight title opportunity….
Shavkat Rakhmonov sees himself as the clear No. 1 contender and next in line for a welterweight title opportunity.
With an 18-0 record and a 100% finish rate, it would be difficult to disagree. Since storming onto the UFC scene four years ago, ‘Nomad’ has laid waste to every man the promotion has put in front of him, including division mainstays Neil Magny, Geoff Neal, and Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson.
On the cusp of his first UFC title opportunity, Rakhmonov firmly believes there is nobody more deserving than himself. That includes ex-titleholderKamaru Usman who recently lobbied for a shot against newly minted welterweight champion Belal Muhammad.
“UFC thinks that I’m the No.1 contender and I should be next,” Rakhmonov told Submission Radio. “Because there’s no [other] clear contender anyway. I got 100% finishes, all wins on the UFC. So I rightfully should be next. Everyone else [is] also very close but I think they need couple of wins to get this title shot. So I should be next… For me I’m actually ready any time.
“So before the end of the year or whenever UFC wants to organize this fight, whenever Belal is ready. This year, early next year, I don’t care. I’m ready to win this belt and bring it back to Kazakhstan” (h/t Sherdog).
Furthermore, ‘Nomad’ thinks Usman should be ashamed of himself for even mentioning a title fight following a trio of losses in his last three outings.
”I don’t know what he [Usman] is thinking about, I think it’s kind of a shame ask for a title shot after losing three fights straight, like in my head I cannot get my head around it,’”Rakhmonov added.
In case his comments weren’t clear enough, Rakhmonov took to social media to make his case once again.
”18-0 with 100% finishes or 0-3 in the last three fights,” Rakhmonov wrote on X. “I think there should be no question who fights next for the title”
Kamaru Usman’s decade-long unbeaten streak came to a crashing halt in August 2022 following Leon Edwards’ kick heard ’round the world at UFC 278. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ failed to reclaim the welterweight crown in an immediate rematch, suffering a unanimous decision loss against ‘Rocky’ seven months later.
The last time we saw Usman inside the Octagon was on October 2023 when he stepped in for a short-notice scrap with Khamzat Chimaev in Abu Dhabi. Usman lost the bout via majority decision.
