After withdrawing from his scheduled UFC 310 title defense against Shavkat Rakhmonov, Belal Muhammad has slammed the idea of the promotion introducing an interim title fight into the equation.
Newly minted UFC welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad, was set to make the first defense of his title on December 7 at UFC 310, taking on the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov.
Despite that, just over a month out from the scheduled main event, ‘Remember The Name’ Muhammad announced his withdrawal following a nasty toe injury that turned into a bone infection.
Belal Muhammad berates the idea of an interim title fight at UFC 310
With Muhammad out of the fight, the promotion is actively looking for a replacement for ‘The Nomad’, with the consensus being that they will introduce an interim title and Rakhmonov will fight another contender for it.
Ian Machado Garry put his name in the hat along with fellow contender, Joaquin Buckley, however, the promotion soon after announced that Garry and Buckley are scheduled to main event UFC Tampa on December 14.
That leaves Rakhmonov likely taking on former welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, after ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ hinted on social media that he has news coming.
“It’s interesting from what we see on Twitter, you’ve got Usman throwing his name in the hat, I just saw they announced Machado Garry against Buckley, that’s a big one,” Muhammad said on Remember The Show.
“I can see them trying to do something with Shavkat, but he’s calling for an interim title fight. It’s like, interim title fight, bro? It’s six weeks, not six months that I’m off but even for myself, if they want to do that just to make it a main event, I don’t really care about it if they want to because they know who has the real belt.
“It really doesn’t (make sense to have an interim title fight)… Him and Usman are training partners and you guys have been in the gym with each other right now, you gonna watch each other train? It’s just weird,” Muhammad continued.
Muhammad took part in the podcast whilst hooked up to an IV drip and he will be on antibiotics for six weeks, allowing him to train after that period.
Alex Pereira willing to once again save the day and headline UFC 310
If the promotion decides to go away with the interim title fight for the main event, they will need to look into options for an entirely new main event and may end up calling upon their most reliable fighter of 2024, Alex Pereira.
After successfully defending his 205lb title at UFC 307, ‘Poatan’ did hint that he will take some time away from the Octagon as he is set to star in a Hollywood movie.
Despite that, following the news of Muhammad’s withdrawal, the Brazilian hinted online that he would answer the call if he was called by the UFC.
Magomed Ankalaev is likely the next contender for Pereira after picking up an impressive win over Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308, but he believes Pereira is continuing to run from a potential short-notice fight, despite offering his services.