Belal Muhammad has worked hard to earn his #5 ranking in the UFC’s welterweight division, but there were times on the way up where he questioned his employer’s intentions.
“Remember the Name” joined former UFC fighter-turned-comedian Brendan Schaub on a recent edition of Schaub’s Food Truck Diaries Youtube series. When they weren’t sampling Mexican food, the two discussed Muhammad’s UFC career and current run of success.
When Schaub pointed out how difficult Muhammad’s last few opponents have been, the 33-year-old admitted to feeling the UFC might be out to get him with his last fight against Vicente Luque.
“That was the fight where I was like, ‘Man, does the UFC hate me?’ Muhammad said about the matchup. “I was like, they have to have something against me. You know, you give me Maia, I beat Maia. One of the best grapplers to have ever fought in the UFC. Then you give me Wonderboy, who’s one of the best strikers to have ever fought in the UFC. Then you’re like, ‘All right well dang, he got past those two. Lemme give him somebody that knocked him out.’ Somebody that, one of the best finishers — I think — one of the best finishers in the welterweight division at all.”
The 33-year-old earned a five-round decision over Luque in their main event bout earlier this year. That fight was a rematch of their 2016 meeting, which Luque won via first-round knockout.
“Remember the Name” rebounded from that Luque loss with four-straight wins before losing a decision to Geoff Neal in 2019. He’s gone unbeaten through eight fights since then, winning every bout aside from a 2021 No Contest when Leon Edwards poked him in the eye.
With Edwards set to challenge welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, Muhammad is currently waiting for a matchup with one of the division’s remaining Top 5.
What do you think of Muhammad’s comments about the UFC’s matchmaking for his last fight?