Belal Muhammad promised that, at age 36, he’d be an active champion after dethroning Leon Edwards on enemy soil in Manchester and now will finish a career-best calendar year with a maiden title defence against #3 ranked contender Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310. Two familiar faces, both with their analyst hat on, had their say on a difficult matchup awaiting him on Dec. 7.
Belal bullish and now has a title to protect
Belal Muhammad (c) vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov [3]
UFC welterweight championship main event scheduled for Dec. 10
UFC 310 at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena – two title fights, pair of title eliminators
BELAL Muhammad can bark disapprovingly at former long-reigning champion Kamaru Usman, rubbish the man he dethroned in Leon Edwards and longtime contender Colby Covington while he’s at it, having earned that right as the new divisional #1 in a weight class primed for movement over the next 18 months.
The old generation are steadily being replaced by younger, fresh talent and Muhammad will look to banish the ominous 35-and-over curse in UFC championship fights – just ask former featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski.
Michael Chiesa will celebrate his 37th birthday on fight day when making his return on the same night against Max Griffin at 170lbs and while the long-time contender once flirted with the title picture, snapping a three-fight losing streak against Tony Ferguson last time out means it’s unlikely he’ll fight for championship gold soon.
Nonetheless, he had his analyst hat on when previewing Belal’s first title defence. In conversation with ESPN, Maverick offered a counter argument for those willing to overlook Belal’s historic achievements with a scary Kazakh across from him, citing the Chicago native’s strength of schedule as his confidence would’ve grown.
“It would be easy for people to discredit and dismiss Belal because when you look at Shavkat Rakhmonov, 18-0 with 10 submissions and 8 KOs, [he’s] the boogeyman of the division right now.
Demian Maia was ranked when he fought him, Wonderboy above the top 10, Vicente Luque was #5, TKO’d and took Sean Brady’s 0, fought Gilbert Burns on short-notice in a five-round fight, dethroned Edwards in his backyard.
Before people dismiss Belal because of who he is fighting, look at that strength of schedule and remind yourself: he’s champion for a reason, I wouldn’t be surprised if he took Shavkat’s 0.”
Tale of the tape
Belal Muhammad’s last five
July 2024 – Leon Edwards, UD5
May 2023 – Gilbert Burns, UD5
Oct. 22 – Sean Brady, R2 TKO
Apr. 2022 – Vicente Luque, UD5
Dec. 2021 – Stephen Thompson, UD3
Shavkat Rakhmonov’s last five
December 23 – Stephen Thompson, R2 submission (RNC)
March 2023 – Geoff Neal, R3 submission (RNC)
June 22 – Neil Magny, R2 submission (guillotine choke)
February 2022 – Carlston Harris, R1 KO (spinning hook kick, punches)
June 2021 – Michel Prazeres, R2 submission (rear-naked choke)
Alan Jouban, who beat Muhammad via UD3 as the pair won Fight of the Night honours in the latter’s UFC debut on a Las Vegas fight card eight years ago, echoed those sentiments and highlighted the recent display against Edwards as a key.
Muhammad mustered a new career-high nine takedowns against Edwards, amounting to 12 minutes’ control time as he outgrappled and overwhelmed the Briton with rather startling ease for sustained periods during their long overdue rematch on July 27. Whether he’ll manage that success with Shavkat is unclear.
“Leon is one of the better grapplers in the division, outgrappled guys like Gunnar Nelson and so on. Belal goes in there, dumps him on his head, manhandled him. Shavkat does everything well so this is Belal’s toughest date but I do think he has the grappling to get it done.”
UFC 310 card, is as follows
Card still subject to change, order TBC
Welterweight: Belal Muhammad (c) vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov [3]
Flyweight: Alexandre Pantoja (c) vs. Kai Asakura
Heavyweight: Ciryl Gane [2] vs. Alexander Volkov [3]
Welter: Vicente Luque [14] vs. Nick Diaz
Featherweight: Movsar Evloev [5] vs. Aljamain Sterling [9]
Light-heavyweight: Anthony Smith [12] vs. Dominick Reyes [13]
Welter: Randy Brown vs. Bryan Battle
Lightweight: Clay Guida vs. Chase Hooper
Welter: Michael Chiesa vs. Max Griffin
Women’s Strawweight: Virna Jandiroba [3] vs. TBD, #1 ranked Tatiana Suarez withdrew through health issue
Heavy: Lukasz Brzeski vs. Tallison Teixeira
Flyweight: Cody Durden vs. Joshua Van
Picture source: Getty Images, quotes hyperlinked
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