Belal Muhammad made it clear that he intends to be the next man to attempt to hand Khamzat Chimaev his first loss — and he has definitely caught Chimaev’s attention.
Following a dominant win over two-time UFC title challenger Stephen Thompson at UFC Vegas 45 this past Saturday, Muhammad mentioned that he would like to fight Chimaev next, something UFC president Dana White has claimed few on his roster have been interested in doing.
While Neil Magny has also called for the Chimaev fight on multiple occasions, Muhammad may leapfrog him in the Chimaev sweepstakes. “Remember The Name” told MMA Fighting that he wants to take on the undefeated Chimaev because, “You get the most hype beating a guy like him.”
Chimaev clearly heard all of the talk, and now the two are embroiled in a social media back-and-forth that began with Chimaev sharing a mock poster for their matchup.
On Thursday, Chimaev tweeted at Muhammad directly, writing, “You number one bullsh*t, I need 1 minute to take your head.” He later poked fun at Muhammad’s recent fight with Leon Edwards, which ended in a no contest after Muhammad was on the receiving end of an accidental eye poke.
Muhammad responded by bringing up rumors that Chimaev was planning to retire last year as he battled severe COVID-19 symptoms.
“Didn’t you retire because you had a cold?” Muhammad wrote. “Don’t worry friend, I got some NyQuil for you.”
The exchange carried on throughout Thursday, with Muhammad and Chimaev trading insults and occasionally responding to and retweeting fans to stoke the fires of their feud.
Check out the ongoing Twitter war below:
This is the best u got You can do better than that
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) December 23, 2021