Now just days out from his first welterweight title defense, Belal Muhammad has sent a pretty defiant message to Islam Makhachev.
At UFC 315 in Montreal on Saturday, Belal Muhammad makes the first defense of his 170lb title when he takes on exciting contender, Jack Della Maddalena.
Ahead of the biggest fight of his career thus far, Muhammad has been backed by the consensus greatest welterweight of all time, Georges St-Pierre, who has labeled him a complete fighter ahead of his title defense.
Despite Della Maddalena being his opponent, Muhammad is also preparing for a potential fight against Ian Machado Garry, as the Irishman is scheduled to weigh-in as a backup.
Muhammad sends Islam Makhachev a final message ahead of title defense
Ahead of his fight at UFC 315, Muhammad has had the lingering thought of a potential clash against lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, at the back of his mind.
Following Makhachev’s successful record-breaking title defense at UFC 311, he once again made it clear that he wants to move up to welterweight in an attempt to become a two-weight world champion.
However, with him and Muhammad being teammates, Muhammad has stated several times that he won’t fight the Russian, leaving Makhachev waiting.
The lightweight champion stated that he is going to wait for the culmination of UFC 315 to decide what his next move will be, as if Della Maddalena dethrones Muhammad, Makhachev will move up.
However, just days out from the main event, Muhammad has sent a defiant message to Makhachev regarding his potential move up in weight.
“We’ve talked about it, he said, ‘Oh man, you’ve ruined my plans’, it’s one of those things. Now they’re waiting to see what happens this weekend, but I tell them, like, I would get your (next) fight signed because I’m not leaving Montreal without the belt, I’m still gonna be the champ,” Muhammad told The Anik and Florian Podcast.
“So, start your camp right now, whoever you have in line, whoever you have in store, you’re good,” he continued.
Who will Islam Makhachev fight next?
With ‘Remember The Name’ remaining adamant that he won’t fight Makhachev and that he will be remaining as the 170lb champion, it leaves the Russian likely needing to defend his 155lb title again.
However, Makhachev himself seems to be remaining adamant that he will not fight Ilia Topuria next, stating that ‘La Layenda’ needs a win in the division before fighting for the title.
Despite that, Topuria recently teased that he is fighting at UFC 317, leaving fans hopeful that the fight has been officially booked.