Belal
Muhammad would love to fight Sean
Strickland, but he doesn’t think much of the former
middleweight champion as an opponent.
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Muhammad defeated Leon
Edwards via unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 304
this past July to win welterweight gold. “Remember the Name” has
since been discussing a future move up to middleweight, albeit
after he defends his title a few times.
Strickland, who has been beefing with Muhammad over his views on
the Israel-Palestine conflict, stands out as a potential opponent
should that move happen.
Sean Strickland GOES OFF on Belal Muhammad
😳“[Belal] is such a f***ing little b*tch bro… listen dude, go to
f***ing Palestine, go f***ing fight for your f***ing country.Get the f*** out of here you f***ing can.”
🎥 YT / @jonbernardk
#UFC302 #UFC
#MMA
pic.twitter.com/p7JOFIjOV8— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS)
May 31, 2024
Muhammad recently reiterated his plans to potentially move to 185
pounds after a couple of title defenses, which he expects to be
rematches. As for a potential clash against Strickland, Muhammad
doesn’t even need a title on the line.
“Oh man, I’d love to fight Sean,” Muhammad told Submission Radio. “It doesn’t even have to be belt on
the line. I’ll just fight him just to fight him at 185 [pounds].
Yeah, that would be a fight I would want at 185. I have four Top 5
wins and when you look at it, it’s gonna eventually be — now I’m
gonna have to do a rematch — now there’s gonna be another rematch.
But I think after two I can start talking about it. I think it just
depends on who’s the champion or who’s up there right. Because if
it’s Sean, I’d definitely want that fight and I’ll bide for that
fight. I don’t think he’s gonna be touching gold anymore, dude
sucks.”
However, if Strickland is champion around the same time Muhammad
plans his move up, he would rally hard for that fight. Muhammad
believes Strickland will be an easy fight for him in every aspect.
According to Muhammad, Strickland’s recent wins have come against
opponents who did not fight him smartly. Muhammad claims Strickland
fights not to lose and he vows to break the former champ with
pressure while making it look easy.
“I’d slap him around,” Muhammad said. “I’d literally go in there
and I’d slap him around. When I think of tough fights, Sean’s not
one of them. I think he would be easy fight for me. He beats a lot
of guys with cardio. I have better cardio than him. He beats a lot
of guys with jabs. I have better boxing than him. He beats guys
with teeps, but those guys they fight him a certain way. They don’t
fight him smart. [Paulo] Costa backed up the whole time and then he
just took those teep kicks. Even with Adesanya, he backed up the
whole time for the most part and even in that fight, it wasn’t that
great of a fight. He fights safe. He fights to not get hit. He
fights to not lose. So I think I go in there and I break him with
pressure and honestly I’ll make it look easy.”