Belal Muhammad is the welterweight champion of the world.
But in the eyes of many, he’s merely keeping the belt warm. Headlining UFC 315 this weekend, “Remember the Name” looks to avoid becoming “Remember the Nameless” and not become a one hit wonder of a champion.
In his way is Jack Della Maddalena, the new generation of welterweight fighters. Muhammad has ousted the old, Leon Edwards. With a win, he can establish dominance over the new and solidify himself not as a fluke, but as the rightful king of 170.
The disrespect to Belal Muhammad
Belal Muhammad winning the title was a long time coming. After his loss to Geoff Neal in January of 2019, Chicago Fight Team’s contender would go on a monstrous tear. This tear would go into UFC history books as one of the longest.
The names became consistently better: Curtis Millinder, Takashi Sato, Layman Good, and Dheigo Lima. He was then booked for an opportunity to fight Leon Edwards. As we all know, an egregious eye poke later, Muhammad couldn’t continue. No contest was declared but Muhammad would not be deterred.
The names only got better and better known: Demian Maia, Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque, Sean Brady, and Gilbert Burns. Despite Edwards’ best efforts, Belal Muhammad became undeniable.
Conquering the king
Unlike the two’s first meeting, Belal Muhammad would challenge Leon Edwards for the title now held by Edwards. Muhammad dominated the fight and took home the title, an unthought of feat. He was the king. But that’s not what was cried by the MMA faithful.
“Leon Edwards has regressed.”
“He was a fraudulent champion.”
“It was 5am local time!”
Anything but, “Belal Muhammad beat Leon Edwards.”
If Muhammad loses this weekend, those cries from his detractors will only grow louder. Just look to Bo Nickal’s loss this past weekend. Jack Della Maddalena may just be better than the 36-year-old Muhammad.
Make no mistake about it, Belal Muhammad earned the title. Now he must defend it.
