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UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad recently sat down with Joe Rogan on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast to discuss his current career trajectory, amongst many things. After his massive win over Leon Edwards at UFC 304 in Manchester last July, 'Remember The Name' looked back at the long road he took to get to the belt.
Despite not losing a bout in 11 straight outings, the Palestinian-American champion claimed that he was overlooked a few times by the UFC brass.
Muhammad also claimed that they skipped him as the possible main event for the historic UFC 300 card, despite talks of then-champion Leon Edwards headlining it. When asked by Rogan why he didn't get the slot at UFC 300 to fight for the belt, Muhammad said:
"I put it out there. I said if they really want Leon [Edwards] to fight there, they would have put me on there because I said yes. They said they asked [UFC lightweight champion] Islam [Makhachev], they said they asked Shavkat Rakhmonov, they said they asked Khamzat [Chimaev], and they all said no because of Ramadan. But I fought multiple times during Ramadan. So for me, if they really wanted Leon, they could have had him with me. But I think they just wanted to have that shock factor with 300, where it's like, 'Oh double champ status for Islam'".
Muhammad also added that Edwards isn't a good promoter of fights, which may have been the reason why the UFC chose to not have him fight for their historic 300th pay-per-view card.
Check out Belal Muhammad's comments below (starting from 6:43):
Belal Muhammad elaborates on "limbo" status before receiving his first UFC title shot
Belal Muhammad had to compile an 11-fight undefeated streak and beat nearly every man in the top five to get a crack at the champ. For at least two years, the Palestinian-American fighter was in a state of uncertainty about whether or not he would get the title shot.
Muhammad said (via Joe Rogan Experience):
"After [I beat] Gilbert [Burns], they were like, 'You're guaranteed next'. And then you're like, 'when is it happening?' They're like, 'We'll Colby [Covington] has to fight first'. So then I'm sitting there and playing the waiting game. And then they offered me [Kamaru] Usman... And then Usman ended up fighting Khamzat [Chimaev] on short notice. So then I was like, 'There's nothing else they can put in front of me. it's gonna be me against the winner of Colby and Leon.'"
Muhammad continued:
"Then that fight happens and then Leon is trying to brush it off like, 'No there's still other guys I could look at and see who's next'. He even brought up Gilbert Burns. I'm like, 'Bro I just beat Gilbert Burns'. So I'm sitting there, you know, in limbo, like, 'What's happening?'"
Muhammad eventually faced Edwards in the latter's hometown of Manchester, England at UFC 304. Despite the hostile crowd, 'Remember The Name' pulled off a dominant win, proving that the UFC was wrong for overlooking him.
