When Khamzat Chimaev was still just a prospect looking for a top-ranked opponent to face him, Belal Muhammad was more than happy to answer that call.
In fact, Muhammad continuously asked for the chance to face Chimaev and thought he nearly landed the matchup back in March when the UFC hinted at a main event slot for the promotion’s return to London.
Unfortunately for Muhammad, the fight never materialized but he never gave up hope on ending the hype surrounding the undefeated Chechen.
Following a convincing win over Vicente Luque in April, Muhammad renewed his calls for the fight against Chimaev, but says he kept hearing excuses why the bout wasn’t put together.
“I’m sitting there like Khamzat is not booked. Why am I not fighting Khamzat?” Muhammad said on The Fighter vs. The Writer. “That makes the most sense in the world because at the time, we’re the only two guys in the top five that haven’t fought Kamaru [Usman] yet.
You’re hyping him up. I was calling for the Khamzat fight before Luque. I wanted to fight Khamzat. Even before the ‘Wonderboy’ [Stephen Thompson] fight I was like let me fight Khamzat and they kept just brushing it off.
“I was like OK, I just beat No. 5 [ranked fighter] in the world, he just beat No. 3 in the world with Gilbert [Burns], this makes the most sense. I thought that was going to happen.
The whole time I’m calling for it, I’m hearing he has visa issues, he’s not going to fight. Then you started hearing the rumors about him and Nate Diaz and how does that make any sense?”
Belal Muhammad is one of, if not, the most cerebral fighters currently on the UFC roster. Combine his intelligence with very difficult skills to beat, and Muhammad is one of the most challenging puzzles for any welterweight to solve.
The scary piece of the Muhammad puzzle is his newfound addition to his fight preparation, as he is now training with the arguable GOAT, Khabib Nurmagomedov, who will be in his corner come UFC 280 fight night.
Khabib is a perfect addition for Muhammad as he looks to fight near the exact same style Khabib employed during his UFC dominance, with wrestling and weaponization of cardio being at the forefront of style.
For Muhammad, weaponizing cardio is a trait he perhaps perfected, as he can put on a grappling pace and pressure that drags his opponents into deep waters seemingly fight over fight.
Where Khabib can elevate Muhammad from a legitimate top 10 ranked fighter to a belt holder is his success with wrestling, particularly with inflicting damage once a takedown is secured.
In the past, Muhammad has done a tremendous job shooting takedowns from a variety of angles and has gotten elite takedown defenders to the mat, but, has struggled to do much, if anything, on the canvas.
Knowing he has the skills to get the fight to the mat, Khabib as his teacher, and the intelligence to learn, nets the conclusion that the ground and pound aspect of Belal’s game should be quickly improved and will need to be done if he seeks to beat the best of the best in the division.
Training with Khabib extends beyond grappling evolution alone, as Belal will likely employ a similar tactic on the feet as Khabib did throughout his UFC reign.
I expect improvement given the style of striking was quite similar to Khabib prior to his new training, as Belal looks to fight behind a jab and close distance early in the fight, knowing the easiest path to victory is through grappling.
If Belal is able to learn a few ancillary additives to fighting bending the jab, his ability to successfully wrestle should only be exacerbated against sound to subpar grappling opponents.
Being a sound grappler in the octagon would be a complete insult to Sean Brady, as he is one of the most talented grapplers in the UFC. To justify this statement, I will reference his most recent fight and competition outside the UFC.
For the former, Sean Brady confidently grappled with the elite submission artist of Michael Chiesa in his last fight, and while confidence alone is adorable, the impressive conclusion from that bout is that Brady looked to be leaps and bounds ahead of the talented welterweight grappler of Chiesa on the mat.
For the latter, Sean Brady, who routinely competes in grappling-only bouts to keep his mind and body sharp, beat one of the most talented BJJ practitioners, Craig Jones – An IBJJF world No-Gi Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion as a purple belt, Jones is a two-time ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship silver medallist and a three-time Polaris Pro Grappling champion.
This ability, to win grappling-only bouts versus grappling-only competitors, truly showcases the elite skills Sean Brady has in the grappling department.
BELAL KNOCKS OUT SEAN BRADY #UFC280 pic.twitter.com/fMJSaplpfV
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) October 22, 2022