UFC 296 takes place in Las Vegas and will be headlined by a welterweight title fight between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington. While the belt is on the line, there are a number of contenders at 170-pounds chomping at the bits for the next title shot. Chief among them is Belal Muhammad. He is also the backup fighter for Covington vs Edwards.
Muhammad has been extremely vocal about Covington getting the title shot ahead of him. ‘Remember the name’ has taken every opportunity to bash Covington and call him undeserving of the title shot. Muhammad also insinuated that ‘Chaos’ got a title shot because of his relationship with Dana White and not on merit.
In the recent pre-fight press conference, Covington was asked about potentially facing Muhammad if he were to win the title. Covington replied saying,
“No, who wants to fight a racist? I mean could you imagine if I said someone earned something off the colour of their skin? That is absolutely despicable. It is disgusting. That guy has not not deserve anything. I mean it is not my fault that he is not a star. You have to make yourself a star… he is out there race baiting saying ‘ohh you only earned that because of the colour of your skin its white privilege. Are you f**king kidding me? Dude he is not getting no title shot. There will be no title shot for him.”
Colby Covington says “there will be no title shot” for “racist” Belal Muhammad if he claims gold in the #UFC296 headliner. pic.twitter.com/wmBW9gM16X
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) December 13, 2023
Belal Muhammad took to Twitter to reply to the same saying,
“NEITHER OF THESE CLOWNS CALLS THE SHOTS Leon’s a nerd who throws people out of his gym because he can’t handle competition and Colby is just a bum Trying to wait for Trump to be president again so he feels relevant…”
NEITHER OF THESE CLOWNS CALLS THE SHOTS Leon’s a nerd who throws people out of his gym because he can’t handle competition and Colby is just a bum Trying to wait for Trump to be president again so he feels relevant… https://t.co/Fei61aHx4r
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) December 13, 2023
With that being said, let’s take a closer look at who will be next in line for a title shot at 170-pounds.
Belal Muhammad undeniable for Colby Covington or Leon Edwards?
‘Remember the Name’ is without a doubt the number one contender in the welterweight division at the moment. Muhammad is on a five fight win streak that includes wins over the likes of Vicente Luque, Gilbert Burns and more. In his most recent fight, Muhammad made a statement with a dominant win over former title challenger Gilbert Burns.
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There is absolutely no doubt that the winner of the title fight on Saturday will face Belal Muhammad next. If Edwards defends his title, it will be a rematch with an interesting backstory. However, if Covington wins the belt on Saturday, the build up to his fight against Muhammad will be extremely entertaining. Regardless of who wins on Saturday, it is certain that Muhammad will be next in line for the winner.
