Belal Muhammad details severity of bone infection that forced UFC 310 withdrawal: 'It was heartbreaking'

LAS VEGAS – Belal Muhammad was willing to do whatever it takes to make UFC 310.

Welterweight champion Muhammad was forced to withdraw from his title defense against Shavkat Rakhmonov due to a bone infection in his foot. Rakhmonov will now face Ian Machado Garry in a five-round co-main event Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.

After three weeks in the hospital and six weeks of antibiotics, Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) finally had his PICC line removed Monday.

“I’m cleared and good to go,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie on the red carpet. “But now, it’s like getting back to where I was. Literally I did like 50 pushups, and I felt like I was in a war and I got hit by a truck. I’m like, ‘Bro, this is how it feels to not be in shape? It’s crazy.'”

Muhammad was eager to be an active champion after dethroning Leon Edwards at UFC 304 in July. He was willing to take extreme measures to make UFC 310 until doctors warned him of the severe consequences.

“It got to the point where I was like, ‘Bro, what if you got rid of the toe? What do I need to do to get back in there as quickly as possible?,'” Muhammad said. “But the way the doctor was saying it, it was like a bone infection. So it wasn’t like people were saying: ‘Oh, you’ve got a broken toe.’ I’m like, bro, if it was a toe, I had a broken toe for over a year.

“And then that toe got infected because of that, so that went directly into the bone and it was climbing up the foot. So he was like, ‘Bro, you’ll get your foot amputated.’ It ain’t that. So for me, it was heartbreaking, obviously, but just trusting God, trusting God has a plan for me, knowing that everything happens for a reason. And now that I look at it from the bigger picture side, I’m hoping that there’s a reason for it.”