I feared Dana White wouldn’t give me UFC title shot, but that Khabib’ words of wisdom changed everything, says Muhammad
BELAL MUHAMMAD finally gets the shot at UFC gold he thought would never materialise at UFC 304 this weekend.
After being overlooked as the opponent for Leon Edwards‘ second title defence at UFC 296 last December, ‘Remember the Name’ will get his crack at the Brit early on Sunday morning.
It’s been a long time coming for Muhammad, who, if we lived in the promotion’s old meritocratic days, would’ve stood across the octagon across from Edwards after he beat surging prospect Sean Brady last October.
The deserved and seemingly elusive title shot didn’t appear for the Palestinian-American after his Abu Dhabi dusting of Brady.
And he admits he thought Dana White and the UFC brass may never give him his shot at glory, especially after the veteran promoter told him he’d need “one more” win after beating Brady.
He told SunSport: “There was a lot of moments [where I thought I wasn’t going to get the fight].
“There were a lot of those moments where you’re looking at it where you’re like, ‘Bro, what? It’s never gonna happen, it’s not gonna happen.’
“Especially after beating Sean Brady the way that I beat him. It was like, ‘Bro, come one.’
“And then you had to have the rematch with Usman and Leon and then Leon takes forever to fight.
“I love to fight, I love to be in the cage – especially when I’m healthy. So I want to stay active.
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“But I have big mentors around me and my coaches around me telling me, ‘Be patient, it’s going to happen at the right time.’ Having faith in God and trusting his plan no matter what.
“I even had a meeting with Dana White after the Sean Brady fight and he was like, ‘I don’t know, I think we just need one more fight that’s gonna put you over the edge. and say that you deserve it.’
“And you’re like, ‘Bro.'”
That “one more” ended up being a short-notice victory over former title challenger Gilbert Burns.
Muhammad, like many fight fans, thought he was a sure thing to fight Edwards after beating Burns in Newark last May.
The UFC, however, opted to give Colby Covington the last crack at the belt last December.
And they even overlooked him when trying to pit Edwards in the main event of UFC 300, offering title shots to Shavkat Rakhmonov, Khamzat Chimaev and lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
Muhammad, understandably, was left frustrated by the brass’ second overlooking of him.
But he was better placed to manage his frustrations the second time around after a conversation with former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
He continued: “Then they call you on three week’s notice to fight Gilbert Burns.
“And you’re like, ‘Do you want to risk it all on three weeks’ notice during Ramadan to fight Gilbert Burns?’
“And then it was like, I think it happened for a reason, it was for that moment.
“And then I go out and beat him and then all of a sudden you still got to wait another year for Colby and Leon to fight and you still have all the doubters and naysayers saying, ‘You don’t deserve it.’
“Or making excuses for why you won that fight or this fight. It was tough, but having that small circle around me, keeping me strong and keeping me faithful helped.
“And Khabib literally told me right after I beat Gilbert, ‘This is gonna be your longest wait.
“‘Before you get a title fight, it’s going to be a long wait. So just be patient, just be patient.’
“So having guys like that to be able to talk to and get their advice, it meant the world.”
Muhammad will enter his maiden title bout on the back of a five-fight win streak, which includes victories over the likes of Stephen Thompson and Demian Maia.
He’ll also have the experience of having shared the octagon with Edwards back in March 2021, which ended prematurely when he was on the receiving end of an accidental eye poke in the second round.
Edwards believes he was destined to win the bout as he’d hurt Muhammad with a head kick in the first round.
Muhammad, who has come on leaps and bounds since their first meeting, is hoping the champ comes into their Manchester melee with that same confidence.
“I’m hoping he comes out with that same mentality,” he said. “I’m hoping that he thinks that it’s gonna be an easy fight.
“Even with that first fight, when you’re going back and you’re watching it, he had one moment. It was a head kick.
“There was nothing else in that first round where you’re looking at like, ‘Oh, this is a 10-8 round.’
“It was still a 10- 9 round on the judges’ scorecard. He outstruck me by like six strikes. And in general, I’m a guy that picks up the pace.
“And that was before, you know, Leon was off for two years before that. So for us, it was, ‘Let’s see what Leon comes out [with].
“‘Let’s see what Leon shows up today, what he’s gonna bring, what new style he brings.’
“So it was to start at a slow pace. So I’m hoping that he thinks that, ‘All right, we’re gonna go the same way.’
“And I’m even telling myself like, ‘I wanna go out here and lose this first round against Leon in this fight just to show him – all right, you won this first round now, watch what I do these next four.'”