Belal Muhammad is scoping out his challengers.

It's weird when meritorious decisions are made and feel weird in the UFC. Look at poor Magomed Ankalaev as a prime example in the light heavyweight division. However, the same can't be said at welterweight as the course was corrected with Muhammad's long-awaited title shot rematch against Leon Edwards at UFC 304 in July.

Sure, we had to get through an obscure and disappointing third Colby Covington title shot to get to it, but better late than never, as Muhammad won via unanimous decision to become the new champion. For Muhammad's first title shot, he has two polar opposite contender options on the meritocracy scale. The first is the seemingly obvious undefeated 18-0 finisher Shavkat Rakhmonov, who continues to build his name in each appearance. On the other hand, there's the former champion Kamaru Usman who is winless in his last three fights (20-4 overall).

While neither has impressed Muhammad the most amongst top contenders, he sees the arguably least logical option as the largest hurdle.

“Ian [Machado] Garry I think probably had the toughest win out of all of them, beating ‘MVP’ (Michael ‘Venom’ Page),” Muhammad said on Believe You Me. “‘MVP’s’ a tough puzzle to solve. So for him to win that and be undefeated is like, man, but I think just the fans and the UFC, I see them looking at Shavkat like that next guy in line and I’m gladly willing to do it, right?

“For me, I would think Usman’s a tougher fight. When I look at Shavkat, I see a lot of holes and I see many paths to victory. When I look at a fight and I take a fight, I come up with a strategy. I think of: Where’s this guy weak at? Let me take him there. Alright, well, you guys wanted to test it. That’s why I think for the UFC they don’t want to put him against an Usman for a No. 1 contender fight because Usman beats him, it’s like we just lost an undefeated guy, new blood, and we get Usman back in the mix again who was just the reigning champ for five years. I think they want new blood in general.”

Muhammad, 36, has already had numerous social media spats with each of his top two choices to face for his first defense. It's just a matter of sorting out the when and where it will go down against whomever.

In the case of Usman, he defended his title five times before he dropped it to the aforementioned Edwards in August 2022. A loss in their trilogy bout came the following March before Usman took a short-notice fight at middleweight against Khamzat Chimaev in October, losing a second straight majority decision. He hasn't fought since.

Muhammad has been vocal about wanting to cement his legacy at 170 and taking out all comers to do so. At the same time, he acknowledges that prize-fighting is still the name of the game.

“Obviously, money plays a big factor in everything,” Muhammad said. “Usman, you probably make the most money with because I think he’s the biggest name. Legacy-wise, he was the guy that was the reigning champion for a long time, Dana White said he was better than ‘GSP’ (Georges St-Pierre). So, I think legacy, for sure, I would want to fight Usman before he’s done. But Shavkat is that guy.

“I beat him, there’s really nothing you can say. Undefeated, 18-0, all finishes, he’s young. There’s nothing you can say. I don’t think Shavkat’s the type to make excuses after he loses the fight.”

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TOP STORIES

Answers. Mailbag: Demetrious Johnson’s retirement, Sean Brady’s big win, and Noche UFC

Greats. Dana White reveals his Mount Rushmore for the top 4 UFC fighters of all-time

Rollercoaster. ONE’s Chatri Sityodtong releases statement after Mikey Musumeci hospitalized during weight cut

Discussion. UFC 306 roundtable: Is the Sean O’Malley era about to come to an abrupt end?

Continuation. Cain Velasquez sentencing set for next month after pleading no-contest to attempted murder

Beef. Movsar Evloev responds to Aljamain Sterling’s PED accusations: ‘I can’t wait to beat his ass’

Conflict. Oscar De La Hoya boasts he’s attending UFC 306 over Canelo Alvarez fight, Dana White responds

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LET’S WATCH

MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck chats with Movsar Evloev.

UFC 306 Embedded.

UFC 306 Promo 2.

O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili preview.

History of bantamweight.

Mighty retirement access.

Paddy’s self-breakdown.

Chandler neck work.

Lili Ferreira highlights.

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LISTEN UP

On To the Next One. MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alex K. Lee discuss the fights to make after UFC Vegas 97.

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MORNING MUSIC

Wake up with a little Jinjer to start your day.

Go to Twitter, use the #MorningReport hashtag, or find one of my tweets with it, and drop me a jam you’re currently really into. I’ll pick the best one alongside my daily choice and give you a shoutout! You can also share in the comments below — those are just harder to sift through sometimes!

This month’s full playlist:

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SOCIAL SCROLL DOWN

Cinematic.

Totally normal sparring.

Soon.

Travels.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Ricky Turcios (13-4) vs. Benardo Sopaj (11-3); UFC Vegas 100, Nov. 9

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FINAL THOUGHTS

I really hope we stick with the meritocracy in the welterweight division. Usman getting the title shot would be insanity. I guess we’ve probably seen crazier though, haven’t we?

Thanks for reading!

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EXIT POLL

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If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @DrakeRiggs_ on Twitter and let him know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.