Belal Muhammad promises to remain undefeated and calls it a “delusion”

Who will win the Belal Muhammad sweepstakes? That's the question we're all asking about the UFC welterweight division, as a clear challenger for the number 1 spot isn't yet in sight.

Muhammad had finally proven his chances of winning his first shot at gold and finally made his breakthrough when he won the world championship from Leon Edwards by unanimous decision at UFC 304.

No longer a fighter who has to chase others, Muhammad awaits his next challenger with a large target on his back for all UFC welterweights to see. But who will it be?

The next fight for the welterweight title will likely go one of two ways: recognized former champion Kamaru Usman and undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov are in the running for Muhammad's first title defense.

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Although there is a lot of interest in both fights, Muhammad told Submission Radio that if it were up to him, he would choose Rakhmonov as his next opponent.

Critics might take issue with the fact that at 37, Usman is no longer the fighter he once was, having lost three fights in a row and not won since 2021.

No. 3 seed Rakhmonov, on the other hand, has yet to beat a top-5 contender, but his track record speaks for itself: He has 18 consecutive victories, six of them in the UFC, against the likes of Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and Geoff Neal.

So far, no one has managed to solve the mystery of Shavkat Rakhmonov, and the versatile Muhammad plans to be the first in his own way.

“Honestly, I think it looks exactly like the Leon fight,” Muhammad said of the potential matchup with Rakhmonov. “I think I've dominated everywhere. I have a different style in every fight. I come in there and I don't have to fight you a certain way… I could wrestle you. I could punch you. In the Gilbert Burns-Sean Brady fight, I didn't attempt a takedown. In this fight against Leon, I punched more and wrestled more than he did. So I think I see weaknesses in there that I'm going to exploit.”

“I look at my opponent's weaknesses and exploit them. I exploit them to make them uncomfortable. Shavkat doesn't seem to be uncomfortable right now because he's undefeated. But these undefeated guys, like I did with Sean Brady, I know how to embarrass him. Once I embarrass him, I know how to break him. So I think that's how it's going to go with Shavkat, I embarrass him and then he'll realize there are multiple stages here. I think it's going to come down to one end in the end,” Muhammad predicted.

Unlike Rakhmonov, Muhammad is not a fighter known for his finishing ability, but rather for his all-around game, which has allowed him to outbox Gilbert Burns, Vicente Luque and Stephen Thompson and score decisive victories on the scorecards.

In the UFC, “Remember The Name” has only won three times by stoppage in the last 8 years, compared to Rakhmonov, who has yet to go the distance.

“Nomad” specifically reminded Muhammad of this very fact and called the UFC champion delusional for believing he could be the first fighter to beat him, let alone stop him.

“18 fighters in front of you, and I have killed them all,” Rakhmonov replied to Muhammad on X“You've now defeated only 3 opponents in 18 UFC fights. The UFC belt doesn't give you any superpowers, brother, it just seems to have made you delusional.”

Shavkat Rakhmonov will surely do his part to get a much-awaited fight with Belal Muhammad, just like Kamaru Usman did after UFC 304. We will have to wait and see which challenger gets the golden opportunity against Muhammad in the coming months.

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