Belal Muhammad believes that his title fight win at UFC 304 was the defining moment that propelled him into stardom, even changing how UFC President Dana White viewed him. After he dominated former champion Leon Edwards, White walked into the octagon to put the title on his waist. The video amassed some serious engagement in social media, going viral and it apparently made White realize he had a superstar on deck.
Belal has long been disrespected as a fighter despite his stellar record in the UFC. Whether it is his promo skills or his wrestling-heavy style of fighting, a huge chunk of the UFC fan base just never had any faith in him. And evidently, White didn’t either.
It’s why despite being the #1 title contender, he had to wait for months before the UFC even gave him a title shot. But once they did, Belal knew it was game on. He promoted the life out of that fight and then went to Edwards’s hometown in Manchester, England, and dropped him on the head to take his title.
Upon winning, he received so much fanfare from the locals that Belal had to take out open vehicle processions across town to celebrate with the people.
In an interview with Barstool Chicago, Belal got candid about how the UFC bossman’s perception of him changed as a result of that win and said, “Oh yeah, I mean he treated me differently since he saw like we got 20 million views on Instagram and he was like, ‘Oh well, this guy is a star.’ It was like the most views for any like title wrapping ever.”
The UFC has often leaned into star power as a promotional tool, and Belal’s newfound status as a viral sensation has now positioned him as a major player in the welterweight division.
Despite this, the Palestinian-American champion isn’t afraid to speak his mind and call out the UFC bossman for his astounding hypocrisy.
Belal drags Strickland for boring fight
This was obviously before White realized that Belal’s coronation video had amassed millions of views. Regardless, it was a needless statement to make. After Belal’s win, White addressed the media in Machester and claimed that the title fight was exactly what anyone would have expected and said, ‘it wasn’t a barn burner’.
In truth, it might not have been but that was mainly due to the champion Edwards’ inability or rather unwillingness to engage with Belal on the feet. So, not exactly Belal’s fault, which means White’s pointed remarks were rather unwarranted. Regardless, Belal took it on the chin and moved on.
Cut to a year later, at UFC 312, after Sean Strickland put in the worst possible performance by a challenger in a title fight in Australia and Dricus Du Plessis, White had a completely different response. He praised the foul-mouthed American challenger for putting on a brave and ‘professional show’.
And it is this hypocrisy that Belal can’t stand.
Explaining his point of view, the welterweight champion said, “I said I was gonna go in there and dominate him (Leon), I dominated him… And then you see Strickland not do anything and Dana White will be like, ‘Man he’s so tough, so professional being in the cage right, it’s way different.”
This is straight up FACTS from @bullyb170
According to Dana White…
When Belal dominates, it’s “boring”
When Strickland coasts to a lackluster loss, it’s “professional”
Respect to Belal for calling out the hypocrisy! pic.twitter.com/Jq1lFkw2db
— Prabh (@PrabhhSingh) February 18, 2025
While he never does admit it and it is unlikely that he will, White does possess a certain sense of bias towards fighters he likes. For example, why is Michael Chandler fighting top contenders at lightweight despite having lost 4 of his 6 UFC fights?
Why was Strickland even given the opportunity to fight for the middleweight title after having a rather stagnant show against Paulo Costa when Khamzat Chimaev was obviously a better choice with a proven pedigree? Why did it take so long for Alex Pereira to be matched up against Magomed Ankalaev?
