Belal Muhammad has a couple of names in mind for who he wants to fight in his next fight.
Muhammad is set to return to the Octagon in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 45 on Saturday opposite Stephen Thompson. It’s an intriguing matchup as this is arguably the biggest name opponent Muhammad has fought so he knows a win here puts him in the title picture at welterweight.
“The only guys who have beaten (Thompson) in the last whatever years is either the champion or Gilbert Burns, who’s fought for the title,” he said at media day. “(Thompson has) fought for the title twice so if he fought for the title twice, I just beat (Demian) Maia who fought for the title twice – ‘Bully B’ needs to fight for the title once.”
Muhammad wants a fight with Covington with a win
If Muhammad does get his hand raised, it would be a massive win for him and he hopes it earns him a fight against either Colby Covington to the rematch against Leon Edwards. Of course, his fight against Edwards ended in a No Contest and “Bully” says he doesn’t like Covington and wants to beat him up.
“I truly dislike him,” Muhammad said of Covington. “I don’t like him. I hate him, and I just want to punch him in the face. So after beating this guy, then it’s either Colby or Leon (Edwards) or, in the words of Justin Gaethje, ‘We riot.’”
One other name that Belal Muhammad may have interest in fighting is Khamzat Chimaev. Although Muhammad is ranked above Chimaev he knows Chimaev has a ton of hype so if you can beat him it would be a big win for him.
“He’s the biggest name right now, the biggest star, has the most momentum, the biggest hype,” Muhammad said. “He has Conor McGregor hype where it’s like you beat him, you gain more from beating him than anybody else in the division – where he has this stigma of him being the boogeyman of how he just dominated everybody. So you beat somebody like that, you’re the next star. You steal all of his hype, you steal all of his momentum. So it’s like, why not?”
