"For me, I think Colby just beats guys based off of cardio and I think I got good enough cardio to keep up with him."
Of his two desired matchups, Belal Muhammad thinks Khamzat Chimaev would be a harder fight than Colby Covington.
After avenging his loss to Vicente Luque last month in the UFC on ESPN 34 headliner, Muhammad (21-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) expressed interest in facing either Covington or Chimaev next. When breaking down the two top-ranked welterweights, Muhammad explained why he thinks Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) would be an easier fight than unbeaten Chimaev, who outlasted Gilbert Burns in a barnburner at UFC 273.
“The tougher fight of the two I think would be Chimaev,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie Radio. “For me, I think Colby just beats guys based off of cardio, and I think I got good enough cardio to keep up with him. Chimaev, as you’ve seen in his last fight, I think that his weakness is cardio, but his strength is power. Colby doesn’t really have power or anything special on the ground or anything that’s scary at all. Chimaev, obviously he has that one-punch power, and he showed that he has a chin, too, against Gilbert, so I think he’d definitely be the tougher test of the two.”
To Muhammad, Chimaev is the next logical opponent but wouldn’t be surprised if the UFC matched him up with someone else.
“You never know with the UFC because some other stuff really doesn’t make sense,” Muhammad said. “If you look at it, me and Chimaev make the most sense. If you’re looking at the division’s top five, the guys who haven’t fought Usman is me and him. The guys who fought him before, Gilbert and Colby – Colby’s fought him twice. So there’s really no point of either one of us fighting Colby right now.
“You can just have us two fight each other, and the winner fights for the title next. That makes the most sense, but now you’ve seen rumors that it’s gonna be Chimaev and Nate Diaz, which doesn’t make any sense at all. Well honestly, the last two guys who beat Nate Diaz fought for the title, they fought for the welterweight title, so I think they’re gonna keep that path going. Hopefully Chimaev goes in there, walks through him, and they’re gonna want to give him a title shot.”
Muhammad is referring to the leaked image of the UFC’s matchmaking board, which showed the promotion’s plans to book Chimaev against Diaz at UFC 276 on July 2.
So if Chimaev does end up facing Diaz, Muhammad thinks he could draw Covington but doubts it actually happens after Covington cited brain damage from the alleged restaurant attack at the hands of Jorge Masvidal on March 21.
“So for me, that tells me that Colby’s wide open,” Muhammad said. “That leaves an opening for us two, but he’s talking about he got brain damage, and I’m thinking he’s gonna play that off for a little bit and not fight for maybe a year, so I don’t know. I’m lost. For me, Chimaev makes the most sense. That was the one that really made sense and if they make this Nate Diaz one, that doesn’t make any sense at all.”
