Belal Muhammad Aiming to Make a Statement

“It gets me excited,” he said of the performances turned in by his contemporaries last weekend in New York City. “Obviously, huge performances from Michael Morales and (Carlos) Prates, and then Islam (Makhachev) to dominate for the belt. It hyped me up to wanna outperform them.

“There’s a tier right now of who did the best, and I think Morales is at the top right now, so I’ve gotta out-shine him, finish Ian (Machado) Garry, and then I’m still at the top.”

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In terms of the performances turned in at UFC 322, the former champion’s assessment of the hierarchy of contenders feels correct — Morales’ first-round stoppage win over Sean Brady slots him higher than Prates’ second-round finish of Leon Edwards — but alas, the title chase doesn’t consist of only those two athletes.

While Muhammad can handle business himself on Saturday by turning back Machado Garry and elevating his stock, there is also undefeated Kazakh Shavkat Rakhmonov to consider, as he (1) was slated to face Muhammad for the welterweight strap at UFC 310 before a bone infection sidelined the champ, and (2) stayed on the card and beat “The Future” in a clash of unbeaten contenders.

But Muhammad has, in fact, thought Rakhmonov’s position through as well.

“Prates had a huge performance, huge knockout; he lost to Ian, though,” he said of the Brazilian, who iced Edwards last weekend, but dropped a decision to Machado Garry in April. “Shavkat had a close fight with Ian, so I go out there, I finish Ian, I put a stamp on it, and show the world who I am, remind the world who I am.”

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It’s rarely that straightforward, but holding serve on Saturday would be a tremendous way to start for Muhammad, who has, as he mentioned, had a great deal of success competing in the Middle East so far in his UFC career.

The 37-year-old has three stoppage wins during his tenure with the promotion, with the last two coming in his only two trips to Abu Dhabi; the first against Takashi Sato at UFC 242, and the second when he handed Brady his first defeat at UFC 280. Combine that with the added motivation that comes with suffering his first setback in more than six years back in May, and you have the makings of a fired-up former champion heading into the Octagon with a chip on his shoulder and a point to prove.

“I hate losing, and when I look at it and people are like, ‘How do you feel about it?’ it’s like for me, I’m chasing excellence —to be the best fighter, the most complete MMA fighter in the world, so losing that fight tells me we’ve got more work to do,” explained Muhammad, who put together an 11-fight unbeaten and claimed the welterweight title in between his last two losses. “I’ve got to out-work that last person. I’ve got to be a better version than that last person.

“(Following that loss) it was just about bettering myself mentally, not giving excuses, this or that; it was just, ‘Alright, we gotta get better, we gotta do better,’ and now on Saturday night, I get to show better. I get to go out there, smash this guy — especially somebody with a big mouth like that —and then people are gonna be talking about me.

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“Every week there is a new fight,” he continued. “There were three welterweight (fights) on that last card, and they’re not gonna be talking about them next week: they’re gonna be talking about me.”

Dispatching Machado Garry would certainly go a long way in helping Muhammad’s chances of getting right back into the title mix, as the skilled contender who just celebrated his 28th birthday earlier this week has only lost once and successfully navigated a main event pairing with Prates in the spring, as Muhammad had mentioned.

“In a fight, it makes you more motivated. The last time I was this motivated was against Leon, and we smashed him, so for me, it’s to go out there and put a stamp on it, especially after last week.”

As much as getting back into the win column is Job No. 1 this weekend, the former champion knows that just eking one out on Saturday isn’t going to be enough to overtake the standout efforts turned in by Morales and Prates at MSG.

So he’s heading into the Octagon looking to corral Machado Garry and beat him with style points.

“If I were able to wear running shoes, I would wear running shoes to catch him,” Muhammad said with a smirk when asked how he finds success on Saturday. “He runs a lot, so for me, it’s just cutting him off, finding him, and not letting him off the hook.

“And it has to be something with a bang,” he added. “Like I said, I want them to be talking about me this whole month when they’re talking about the best welterweight performance of this month; my name is gonna be at the top of the list.”

Zac Pacleb contributed to this story.