Belal Muhammad eyes Shavkat Rakhmonov over ‘old’ Kamaru Usman for first title defense

Belal Muhammad | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Belal Muhammad is still waiting for the UFC to tell him who he fights next, but if he had his choice today, it would be Shavkat Rakhmonov.

The recently crowned welterweight champion expects to have his first title defense officially announced whenever officials tell him to be ready, and the two most-discussed options are the undefeated Rakhmonov and former champion Kamaru Usman.

Rakhmonov has been on tear, winning his first six UFC fights and continuing his run of 18 finishes in 18 professional fights. Usman remains in the discussion off the strength of having previously successfully defended the welterweight title five times and a competitive performance in a losing effort to Khamzat Chimaev up a weight class and on short notice at UFC 294.

Muhammad told Kevin Iole he’s leaning towards Rakhmonov at the moment.

“For me now, I’d rather have it be Shavkat, because I think he has more aura, I think he has the undefeatedness to him,” Muhammad said. “It’s like, there’s no excuse after beating him. I go out there and I beat Usman, Usman’s on a three-fight losing streak, he’s old, he’s on his way out. I think he needs another win to get into the mix to show that he’s still hungry, to show that he still has tread on the tires.

“But I think it will be Shavkat, more so, when you look at all the other guys. Ian’s not really going to call for it, JDM, I think he’s still hurt, so I think it would be between Shavkat and Usman. Between those two, I think Shavkat makes more sense.”

At 37, Usman is actually only 14 months older than Muhammad, but a lengthy run at the top followed by three straight losses has raised questions as to whether “The Nigerian Nightmare” is still a contender. The UFC’s 170-pound division currently has a healthy crop of potential title challengers, including Rakhmonov, Jack Della Maddalena, and Ian Machado Garry.

Usman’s hopes of regaining the title are further hurt by the beef Muhammad has from him based off of their past interactions.

“It’s hilarious,” Muhammad said. “Especially with Usman, because Usman was a guy that didn’t mention my name, wouldn’t say my name, he was calling out everybody else, saying, ‘This guy deserves it next, this guy deserves it next’ when he was champion. I had the longest streak at the time and he just kept acting like I didn’t exist. Now, it’s, ‘Who’s this guy think he is?’ I even went on his podcast and broke him down verbally, mentally, spiritually, I could just see it in his face that he did not like not being the guy on top. He didn’t like not being the champion.

“Even little parts on his podcast where I was like, ‘Yeah, it feels good to be on top. Everybody’s looking upward at me.’ He was like, ‘I ain’t looking upward at you.’ I’m like, ‘The rankings tell me that you are looking upward at me.’ These guys, they still have it in their head, they still can’t believe it. But it just feels good because I’ve been saying this from the beginning that I belong in the talks with some of these top guys, I belong at the top with these guys, and people kept ignoring me, they kept telling me I wasn’t going to do it. The oddsmakers never gave me a chance, so for me to go out there and beat all these guys that they said I couldn’t beat. To dominate these guys that they said I couldn’t dominate, now it feels good because now you have to listen to me when I say something.”

Muhammad claimed the welterweight title with a one-sided win over Leon Edwards at UFC 304 this past July. Excluding a no-contest in their first fight, which ended after a round when Muhammad couldn’t continue following an accidental eye poke, Muhammad has won 10 straight fights and 14 of his past 15.

As impressive as that streak is, “Remember the Name” knows he needs to tack on a few more title fight wins if he’s to be remembered among the best welterweights ever.

“For myself now, the goal was always the gold,” Muhammad said. “I always put gold as the goal. Now, for myself, it’s like, what’s the next thing you want to chase? What’s the next thing? Now it’s GOAT. Now I want to be the GOAT of the welterweights. I want to chase the ‘GSPs,’ I want to chase that aura, being on that Mount Rushmore.

“So when you think of the welterweights, the best welterweights, I want to be up there with those guys and to do that, I’m going to need some title defenses. To do that, I’m going to need to beat a lot of these younger guys that they’re saying are better than me, that they’re saying are going to beat me, regardless. And just keep proving people wrong. I love doing more than anything.”