‘Belal Muhammad Can Beat Anybody in the World’: UFC Champ Receives Unexpected Backing From Top 170lbs Condenter Ahead of Title Defense

Just hours after UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad claimed to be the best striker at 170 lbs, he received surprise backing from former foe, Sean Brady. While Brady, who fought Belal at UFC 280, doesn’t say anything about the striking, he does assert that the incumbent could very well defeat just about anyone.

Muhammad, who is set to return at UFC 314 in Canada, is set to make his first outing as defending champion against the surging knockout finisher, Jack Della Maddalena.

Initially sharing the spotlight with the unbeaten Shavkat Rakhmonov after his win at UFC 310, Belal must now fight the Aussie prospect, with the Kazakh warrior waiting to duel with the last man standing later in the year.

But can the Chicago native make it to the end of the year with UFC gold still wrapped around his waist?

Currently, amid a generational run of 10 wins in his last 11 fights, Belal most definitely has the tools to make it.

“You can’t bet against Belal (Muhammad),” Brady told Ariel Helwani tonight. “He’s gone out there and proved that he can beat anybody in the world, and he has.“, he added, having experienced first-hand the oddity that has been Belal’s title campaign.

Brady also cited Madalena’s brutal fight with welterweight veteran Gilbert Burns at UFC 299 and said that Belal would have won had the Aussie let him in control that long.

What Brady seems to be referring to is the fact that the Australian struggled largely with Burns before his eventual late-knockout win in Miami. If Burns could outgrapple Madallena, Belal is going to be a nightmare on the ground for Madalena to handle.

However, if Belal were to be asked, he would claim not even wanting to rely on his grappling to win the fight.

Belal dons himself the best striker at 170lbs

Winning the welterweight crown last summer in a rematch against Leon Edwards, Muhammad outworked, outgrappled, and largely outstruck the defending champion in Manchester en route to a dominant decision win.

In the weeks leading up to this fight at UFC 304, Belal had bragged about his newfound boxing skills, even comparing himself to Canelo Alvarez in the process. So, it doesn’t particularly come as a surprise that he would make similar claims again.

“I’m the best striker in the welterweight division,” Belal said overnight at the UFC 315 pre-fight presser.

“Leon Edwards was ‘the next one up, he was the GOAT, he knocked out Kamaru Usman,’ and I made it look easy,” he explained.

“I’m going to make it look easy on May 10.”, Belal then added, pointing at Madalena.

However, eagle-eyed fans of the welterweight division are sure to take Muhammad’s latest outlandish comments with a rather large grain of salt.

Surrounded at welterweight by some of the biggest striking threats in the promotion, Belal’s last defeat came against Texan striker Geoff Neal, who largely outworked him on the feet back in 2019.

Prior to that, the Illinois native was KOed in brutal fashion by veteran puncher Vicente Luque in his third octagon start.

No doubt, these brash claims are sure to be out to test by a host of talents at 170lbs including Michael ‘Venom’ Page, Carlos Prates, Ian Garry — and incoming foe, Della Maddalena, who all know their way around the striking arts.