Belal Muhammad is preparing for his first title defense with the reigning UFC welterweight champion most likely returning in December.
That’s according to his manager Ali Abdelaziz, who confirmed that Muhammad is training and ready to fight before the end of the year.
“Belal is ready to go in December,” Abdelaziz told MMA Fighting. “No problem. We’re ready to go, but the UFC has to announce. I can’t be announcing a fight on your podcast. Most likely you’re going to see for sure Belal in December. Against who, where, when, this is a Dana White question.
“It can be Shavkat [Rakhmonov]. It can be [Kamaru] Usman. It can be whatever the UFC wants. I said if you’re the champ, you have to defend the title against [whoever] they’re going to give you. It doesn’t matter who.”
If December happens, Muhammad would almost certainly fight at UFC 310, which is scheduled on Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
As far as potential opponents, Muhammad has seemingly singled out undefeated contender Shavkat Rakhmonov as his most likely challenge, although he’s definitely engaged in a war of words with former champion Kamaru Usman as well.
Abdelaziz actually manages both Muhammad and Usman and he expects that fight to happen at some point in the future, but it’s just unclear if that’s the one that happens next.
“Kamaru is one of my best friends, my brother, Belal is my brother, I love both of these guys,” Abdelaziz said. “At the end of the day, two alpha males. Kamaru hold this crown for a long time, Belal has earned the crown. He’s the king now. Kamaru believes he can still be the king. I think these guys don’t respect each other too much, to be honest with you.
“You can pretty much see these guys fight in the future for sure. I think one of the biggest fights in the welterweight division is Kamaru vs. Belal. It’s not even close. Nobody even close. Belal needs big names to certify himself as one of the greatest welterweights of all time. He needs Kamaru Usman. Kamaru is the king of the welterweight division. Dana White says he’s the greatest of all-time. When these two guys fight, it will be one of the biggest fights in the welterweight division at the time.”
For his part, Abdelaziz promises that he’s not going to get involved in the war of words between two of his fighters. He’s been here before. Abdelaziz says his only job is making sure the fighters stay healthy, they get everything they need from him, and both end up with bigger bank accounts when it’s all over.
“They will fight,” Abdelaziz said. “At the end of the day, they’re two grown men. They both want the same thing. I’m in the middle of this and my job is when they both fight I’m going to make sure they make a whole bunch of money and they got everything they need.
“Look, Marlon Moraes fought Henry Cejudo. Kamaru fought Gilbert [Burns]. Justin Gaethje fought Khabib [Nurmagomedov], all for the title, and I stay neutral. I will remain the same.”
Whether it’s Rakhmonov or Usman, Abdelaziz says that Muhammad isn’t going to back down from any challenges thrown his way. He waited so long to get his title shot that his manager believes Muhammad is very anxious to begin his championship reign.
“Belal will fight anybody, too, don’t get it twisted,” Abdelaziz said. “Belal is not afraid of any man on this planet. He’s the champ for a reason. Kamaru also is not afraid of anybody. I’m sure Shavkat is not afraid of anybody. When you come to these top five guys, nobody can say these guys are afraid or ducking anybody.
“The guy who’s been ducking people for years and he never fights is Colby Covington. He only fights when it’s convenient for him. That’s the only guy I can say ducks people. Not anybody else.”
