Belal Muhammad is showing little regard for Ilia Topuria’s lofty ambitions of becoming the UFC’s first-ever three-division champion.
“El Matador” is set to put his featherweight crown on the line for the very first time this Saturday when he faces Max Holloway at UFC 308 inside the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Despite the formidable challenge that awaits him this weekend, Topuria has already set his sights beyond the fight, boldly asserting his ambition to become a three-division UFC champion by taking on lightweight titleholder Islam Makhachev and welterweight champ Muhammad in the coming years.
While the undefeated Spaniard has mostly maintained a respectful demeanor toward Makhachev, he hasn’t hesitated to go brakes-free on “Remember the Name,” whom he considers “a walk in the park.” Both Topuria and Muhammad have been embroiled in a fierce war of words on social media ever since the American cautioned “El Matador” about his grand aspirations.
During a recent interview with MMAFightingonSBN, “Remember the Name” shrugged off Topuria’s challenge, dismissing it as something not to be taken seriously. Muhammad suggested that the featherweight champion is simply calling out other titleholders in a bid to boost his fan appeal rather than presenting a genuine threat.
“I think that dude’s got Napoleon syndrome or something,” Muhammad said. “Short guys always act like they’re tough… He’s at that mode where I think he’s trying to find himself and he’s trying to show fans that he’s trash talker and he’s this bad guy. He’s not really good at trash talking. When he comes at me, it’s laughable because he’s basically copying words off memes.
“At the end of the day, we’re not going to fight in the cage so why are you even giving me those words, you’re trying to talk tough because you know nothing’s really going to come of it. He can say ‘I want to go up to 170 and be a triple champ after this’ but you know you’re not. I don’t even think he’s going to get past Holloway. I think he’s going to lose this fight and then we don’t even have to hear his freaking mouse voice.”
Muhammad secured the 170-pound belt with a unanimous decision victory over Leon Edwards at UFC 304 in July. Now, he’s poised for his first title defense against the unbeaten Shavkat Rakhmonov in the headlining bout of UFC 310, set for December 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
