It’s almost an oxymoron: Belal Muhammad is a UFC champion, one of only 11 in the world to hold that title, yet somehow, Muhammad is one of the sport’s least celebrated title-holders.
He hasn’t lost in more than six years, going 10-0 with a no-contest, and his wins include some of the elite of the elite.
Yet, he hears trash talk from other fighters. Fans roll their eyes at his name on a marquee. Media scoff when he says his goal is to one day be regarded as the greatest welterweight in MMA history.
Let someone who happens to be the flavor of the day say the same, and it’s a pull quote. Let Belal say it, and it’s a punchline.
He’ll make the first defense of his welterweight title against Jack Della Maddalena on Saturday in Montreal in the main event of UFC 315.
Originally slated to face Shavkat Rakhmonov, who is 19-0 with 18 finishes, Muhammad had to adjust when Rakhmonov withdrew due to surgery.
He went from a guy on a 19-fight winning streak to facing Della Maddalena, ranked No. 5 and on a 17-fight run. JDM lost his first two MMA bouts in 2016 but has been untouchable ever since.
No one can accuse Muhammad of cherry-picking fortuitous matches.
The only fight Muhammad won’t take is against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. He trains under Makhachev’s coach, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and considers both close friends.
“They’ve done so much for me,” Muhammad said. “Khabib has been such a huge mentor. I’d never do anything to disrespect them or mess up their relationship.”
He’s stormed through the welterweight division since beginning his winning streak. In the last four years alone, he’s beaten Demian Maia, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, Vicente Luque, Sean Brady and Gilbert Burns. He took the title from Leon Edwards on July 27 in Manchester, England, at UFC 304.
The division is stacked. Ian Machado Garry is coming off an impressive win over Carlos Prates. Joaquin Buckley faces ex-champion Kamaru Usman.
Sean Brady is 18-1, with his only loss coming to Muhammad at UFC 280. Since losing to Muhammad, Brady has submitted Kelvin Gastelum with a Kimura and edged Gilbert Burns by decision. Then, on March 22 in London—Edwards’ first fight since losing the belt to Muhammad—Brady choked him out with a guillotine 99 seconds into Round 4.
But for all the big names on Muhammad’s résumé, there was one fight that changed everything for him — not because of who he beat, but what it proved to himself.
Muhammad largely ragdolled Thompson for three rounds at Apex in Las Vegas on Dec. 18, 2021, taking him down almost at will. Thompson’s takedown defense was highly regarded and no one ever tossed him around for 15 minutes like Muhammad did.
That performance opened Muhammad’s eyes as to what was possible. He didn’t begin training in MMA until he was 23, in 2011, and he grew up idolizing a lot of the fighters who were ahead of him in the ratings.
“After beating Wonderboy,” Muhammad said of when he knew he belonged. “He was one of the guys that I always watched and he’d fought for the title twice. … So going in there and dominating him like that, that told me that I belong with the elite and I was good enough to be the champion.”That performance opened Muhammad’s eyes to what was truly possible.
His wrestling was, and will always be the skill that makes him elite. After he defeated Edwards, he compared his hands to those of boxing’s undisputed super middleweight champion, Canelo Alvarez
No one’s going to mistake him for Alvarez, but sharpening his boxing has pushed him into the sport’s upper tier.
He’s confident enough that he believes he’ll finish Della Maddalena with his hands.
“I’m going to knock him out,” Muhammad said. “I’m going to go in there and show I’m the best boxer in the welterweight division. I’m going to show my dominance again.” And immediately after saying that, he was asked about his boxing being underrated. He smiled.
“I think everything about me is underrated,” he said. “People see me and assume stuff, but when they get into the cage with me, they don’t realize what I’m about. They realize what these hands do and they realize that this pressure I bring breaks everybody.”
On Saturday at the Bell Center, Muhammad won’t just be defending a belt: He’ll be daring the world to keep looking the other way.
He’s not the loudest, flashiest, or most marketable fighter in the game. But he is, undeniably, one of the best. And if he delivers the kind of performance he’s promising, the UFC won’t just have a welterweight champion on its hands.
It’ll have a reckoning.
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Belal Muhammad defeated Leon Edwards to UFC 304 to win the welterweight title.