Issues are gonna change at 170 with Belal Muhammad as champion.
So sayeth Belal, who received the welterweight title from Leon Edwards on the finish of July, however is already set to return and defend it in opposition to Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310, 4 months later. That’s a comparatively fast turnaround for a UFC champion today, and “Keep in mind The Title” says you’ll be able to anticipate extra of that.
“I like to struggle,” he advised Grind Metropolis Media. “It’s so laborious to remain wholesome on this sport that if if I’m wholesome, I wanna be within the cage.”
“Persons are like, ‘Oh, we thought you had been gonna wait a yr to defend and also you’re gonna push it longer as a result of it took you this lengthy to get in.’ Sitting on the sofa doesn’t get you paid, sitting on the sofa doesn’t make me completely satisfied. I wanna get completely satisfied by competing. I like to compete and it’s such a small window on this sport the place you don’t know what tomorrow is gonna maintain that I’d fairly keep busy.”
Muhammad compelled himself to attend for a promised title shot after beating Gilbert Burns at UFC 288. Fourteen months later he lastly made the very best of his alternative at UFC 304. So he’s achieved ready round.
“The toughest factor for me was that wait,” he mentioned. “I needed to get into the cage. I needed to struggle. After which for 2025, I’m attempting to get on that Alex Pereira schedule … subsequent yr for myself is simply staying busy.”
Muhammad is hoping that his willingness to remain lively encourages the opposite prime names at 170 to struggle as nicely. Welterweight has grow to be a little bit of a logjam on the prime with a number of fighters seeming content material to squat on their rating.
“I believe after Shavkat a few of these different guys need to struggle one another,” Belal mentioned. “A few of these guys need to compete and we’re gonna see extra of a clearer street of what a primary contender is within the division. Now that I’m busy, it’s gonna make them wanna get busier. And I believe we’re gonna see who’s the subsequent ones up.”
Muhammad vs. Rakhmonov goes down as the principle occasion of UFC 310 on December seventh in Las Vegas, Nevada. The odds are in opposition to Belal profitable, however when is that not the case?
