Belal Muhammad is the first Palestinian-American to win the UFC title in the welterweight category. But was that enough to bury doubts about him? Well, ‘Remember the Name’ is perceived as one of the ‘least popular’ champions in UFC and is lambasted by the MMA fans for what they consider as a ‘boring’ fight style. Even though he has proved time and time again that he can achieve greatness, even with his grappling-heavy style, MMA fans and opponents like Jack Della Maddalena do not seem to change their opinion on him.
Now that Muhammad is going to have his first title defense at UFC 315 against ‘JDM’, he might be ready to prove people wrong yet again. However, before that, the 24-3-0 star with a 6-fight winning streak might have to face Kamaru Usman backstage. Why? Because the former UFC welterweight champion sent a warning to Muhammad.
“Probably, (security would be needed if we were backstage). I say that only because, obviously, I’m very level headed and especially when I’m outside of the cage but for the last almost two years now, I haven’t been in the thick of it,” Usman had said in an interview with ESPN MMA before his fight at UFC on ESPN 69. Now that UFC 315 is near, they might be at loggerheads. Who knows?
Interestingly, this won’t be their first altercation if the second chapter ever happens. Apparently, the duo had become physically violent outside the cage before. Despite being potential opponents, Usman had invited Muhammad as a guest on his podcast with Henry Cejudo. But things became ugly as Muhammad recalled recently at the Full Send podcast again.
He said, “They just couldn’t give me my props right, it was just one of those where he was just like, ‘But anything you do I do. better than you.” And then I was like, “But you didn’t take the headkick better than me.” And I think that just like triggered him where he was just like I don’t play these games man, it’s on site when we when people talk like that and I was just like on we’re we’re right in front of each other on site, so then you know. It was in person.” He continued that his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, had assured him that it would be professional. But the scuffle eventually happened, and the podcast duo still has the footage but hasn’t released it.
Muhammad had recalled this incident back in 2024 as well during his conversation on Remember The Show. He said, “I’ll say this. They’re not very good at talking, so I think I verbally broke down Usman. I think he got emotionally broken, so he tried to get physical! But, when you try to get physical with the champion, there are levels to this.” The episode was never aired, and it’s uncertain whether they ever will upload the footage. Interestingly, the duo might disagree on other things, but their account of this past altercation was pretty similar.
While speaking to ESPN before his fight against Joaquin Buckley, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ said, “And once he became champion, he started to come at me with that energy, it was like, ‘Oh, you have a problem with me? Well, if you have a problem, I don’t play the internet game. Let’s talk it out.’ So we invited him on the podcast, and it went how it went. That’s all I could say.”
Usman pointed out how he was leaning more towards JDM and said that his striking and relentless pressure might threaten Muhammad despite his grappling prowess. However, another pressure befell ‘Remember the Name’ recently, which was more dangerous than his opponent.
Belal Muhammad almost got into a doping scandal before UFC 315
There was a video clip going on around Instagram by Soups MMA Preview, where the caption read, “Did Belal just confirm on ‘UFC Countdown’ he was baked when he beat Leon Edwards???”.
The video clip started with the Chicago native saying, “Show all the people that say I can’t be champion, I won’t be champion, that I am gonna be champion.” Then it showed a pre-sparring moment between Muhammad and his coach, who told him to stay alert while he replied with what sounded like, “I’m too high for this…”
And bam! The fans caught that one word pretty seriously. Immediately, the whispers started about a possible doping scandal. But here’s the thing, the substance that gets someone high, aka cannabis, is not illegal in UFC as of December 2023. The substance was officially withdrawn from the UFC’s anti-doping list.
This decision was taken after a lot of consideration as UFC partnered with health experts, acquired feedback from athletes, and tried to see the policies of the NBA and MLB, both of which had already relaxed their strictness against cannabis.
And to be clear, there were no failed dr*gs tests or suspensions before or after his clash against Edwards. Now that he is going to fight in UFC 315, hopefully without any more hurdles, what do you think will happen? Will he win? Will Usman pose a threat backstage? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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