Following his impressive display at UFC 280, Belal Muhammad has aired his frustrations towards the UFC due to Khamzat Chimaev and Colby Covington still being ahead of him in the welterweight rankings.
‘Remember the Name’ showcased his ever-improving striking and earned a performance bonus for his TKO finish of the then-undefeated Sean Brady on October 22. The grappler is on a nine-fight unbeaten run and hasn’t lost inside the octagon since his close matchup against Geoff Neal back in January 2019.
While discussing the rankings situation during a recent interview with ESPN MMA, Belal Muhammad shared his anger with his No.4 position, criticizing both Colby Covington (No.2) and Khamzat Chimaev (No.3) and insisting their place in the division is undeserved:
“I know there’s talk about [Khamzat Chimaev] fighting Colby, which doesn’t make any sense. I don’t think Colby is gonna show up. Like I said, Colby doesn’t fight tough fights, he doesn’t fight guys that have a chance to beat him… If you’re looking at Khamzat, alright, you beat Gilbert [Burns], but what other ranked guy have you fought?… So why are you still ranked above me? Why is Colby ranked above me? He hasn’t beat anybody but lightweights and guys on losing streaks.”
Ever since their fight ended in a no-contest due to an accidental eye poke, Muhammad has been chasing a rematch with newly crowned 170lbs champion Leon Edwards and believes he should be next up for a shot after Kamaru Usman.
Rumors are suggesting ‘Rocky’ will make the first defense of his welterweight title in a trilogy clash against ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ sometime next year in his home country of England.
Check out what Belal Muhammad had to say about his division’s rankings in the video below:
What’s next for Khamzat Chimaev and Colby Covington?
With Kamaru Usman set to be given an immediate rematch for the welterweight throne, the rest of the weight class must be matched together in search of the next contender.
According to Dana White, a fight between Colby Covington and Khamzat Chimaev is in the works. The UFC president has expressed his interest in putting them on the same card as Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman 3.
If the fight doesn’t come to fruition, the surging Belal Muhammad and the tough Gilbert Burns are two men in the division who could fill in for what will be a title-implication bout.
