Top-five UFC welterweight Belal Muhammad believes that his ability to evolve into a dominant MMA wrestler despite having no grappling pedigree is nothing new in the sport because the legendary Georges St-Pierre was doing it a decade ago.
On Saturday night, at UFC Vegas 46, Muhammad (20-3) surprised the industry when he was able to do what no other man in the UFC has before And that’s to completely ground and out-grapple former welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson (16-6-1). Not even Gilbert Burns, a top-three fighter with a brilliant grappling resume was able to manhandle “Wonderboy” as Muhammad did.
Belal Muhammad compares his wrestling gifts to Georges St-Pierre
It’s all the more impressive because Muhammad, 33, was not an All-American wrestler in college, or even a state champion in high school. Yet he has become one of the most skilled grappling talents in the division. In a new interview with MMAFighting, he explained why his wrestling has become such a force, and how it mirrors former division king and UFC Hall-of-Famer St-Pierre (26-2).
“I have really good wrestling. I don’t have the accolades of being a Division-I wrestler, or going to this school or being born into a wrestling family, or anything like that. But I train with really good wrestlers … And I understand how to use things better than everybody else. I understand how to put everything together,” Muhammad said.
“I’m kind of like a GSP where you don’t need to have the most wrestling years in your life, but we both understood when to shoot on somebody when to cut an angle [and] when to take somebody down.”
St-Pierre entered the sport as a Kyokushin karate expert and talented striker. However, as he rose up the ranks in the division, with the help of Jackson/Wink MMA the Canadian was able to round out his game and turn into one of the best pure wrestlers the sport has ever seen.
Muhammad talks detractors and benefits in fighting Khamazt Chimaev
“Remember the Name” has been making the media rounds since extending his unbeaten streak to seven. Along with talking to MMAFighting, he also spoke with MMAJunkie and said he was able to execute his game plan perfectly against Thompson. Even if some detractors considered the wrestle heavy dominance of his performance less than entertaining.
“I mean, the criticism, 90% of them are people that just naturally hate me or are ‘Wonderboy’ fans. But the way I beat him, I don’t think anybody’s ever beaten him that dominantly. I had a 30-25 [score] in there, so it couldn’t have been that boring if there was a 30-25 in there,” he said. “I had a couple of times in there where I almost had a finish, so for me, it worked out as perfect as can be for me, honestly. My plan A was to wrestle him. My plan B was to be in his face, boxing and striking with him. So I didn’t even have to go to plan B because plan A worked so easily.”
In the conversation, he also gave his thoughts on the possibility of a matchup with star prospect Khamzat Chimaev. The pair have traded trash talk on social media over the last week. And despite the bout being a high-risk endeavor since “Borz” is ranked six spots behind him, Muhammad believes a win over the highly-touted and uber-popular Chechen would be bigger than wins over the fighters ranked ahead of him in the top-five.
“[Fighting Chimaev] makes sense for anybody in the division. He has the most hype in the division right now. He has that McGregor x-factor stardom right now where it’s like the fans [and] the boss think he’s untouchable,” said Muhammad. “They all think it’s just a matter of time before he becomes champion. So for me, if I beat him I steal all of his hype. I think it’s worth more than beating anyone ranked in the division.”
Do you think Muhammad is the modern-day GSP, and can he use those wrestling talents to actually derail the Chimaev hype train?
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