Fans Take Aim At Belal For Ducking Islam – ‘Vacate’
Belal Muhammad, the UFC Welterweight Champion, has faced intense backlash over his stance towards an Islam Makhachev fight.
Belal will face Jack Della Maddalena in his next fight at UFC 315. This will be the first defense of his welterweight belt, which he acquired from Leon Edwards. Belal defeated Edwards in a dominant unanimous decision. However, much has been said about his future. Islam is the current lightweight champion, who has been linked with a move up.
Makhachev submitted Renato Moicano in his last fight at UFC 311 to retain his title. He has been linked with a fight against Ilia Topuria, who moved up from featherweight. There are also bouts against Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett to name a few. However, Islam has spoken about wanting to win a second belt.
The issue is that Belal and Islam are close friends. They have trained together, as Khabib Nurmagomedov is against the idea of Islam facing him. Khabib is on record stating that it would be hard for Islam to secure a win. That means Islam must move up to middleweight amid links with the champion Dricus Du Plessis.
Belal Reacts
Alternatively, Islam could stay at lightweight, where he has dominated, or wait for a scenario where Belal loses his title. Belal does not want to make the fight, which has resulted in strong criticism, with many accusing him of ducking and calling on him to vacate.
“No, I wouldn’t fight him. That time, they’ve done so much for me, they’ve helped me so much that it wouldn’t be worth it to fight those guys. There’s too much respect and loyalty on my end…I think people are just wondering and hoping for him to fight, looking for any excuses for him, right? There are guys in that division who make sense. Justin Gaethje makes sense…
“Paddy Pimblett came off a huge finish, he has a big name…Charles Oliveira is waiting for a rematch…there’s plenty of guys. I think Ilia [Topuria] needs to fight somebody before he gets that title shot, because it’s not really worth it for Islam to fight another [featherweight] because no matter what they do, people are going to hate on Islam,” Belal said
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