MMA frontrunner, UFC, is looking to end 2024 with a bang by putting forward a massive welterweight title fight between champion Belal Muhammad & the unbeaten Kazakh warrior, Shavkat Rakhmonov at the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas. And as the newly crowned WW champion goes for his first defense, he is letting his opponent know that there’s nobody he’s ever faced that’s as good as the champion himself.
Recently during an exclusive with Grind City Media, the Palestinian-American revealed that defeating him would be a tall order for the Kazakh, simply because he hasn’t faced anyone who could put the pressure on him.
“Shavkat (Rakhmonov) hasn’t fought anybody like me, he hasn’t fought anybody that’s going to put the pressure on him, somebody that’s going to go in there fearless. A lot of these guys go in there with him and then there’s you know the intimidation factor.”
Belal does have a point here. Across his six fights in the promotion, the ‘Nomad’ hasn’t fought a pressure-style fighter like the champ, someone who just moves forward, trying to impose his will on them.
The bout with Geoff Neal already showed that Rakhmonov is just as human as everybody else and Belal asserts that his intimidating aura will have no effect on him.
In addition to that, ‘Remember The Name’ unlike the Kazakh has fought has that pressure style and according to him, his style would be a hard nut to crack for the 29-year-old and this will be the game changer.
Meanwhile, in the build-up to this fight, both fighters are throwing caution to the wind and just going after each other on social media. Recently, Belal gave a warning to his opponent with a Diddy reference.
Belal warns Rakhmonov with a Diddy ‘Hunter’ reference
Newly crowned welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad is actually making waves in the community with his hilarious AI-generated skits. He had earlier taken digs at his opponent, Rakhmonov, mocking him and his fans for their peculiar food habits.
Now as the fight date comes close to fruition Belal is only adding ammunition to his claims, coming out with more roasts and warnings.
Joining Farah Hannoun for an interview on MMA Junkie YouTube channel, Belal said that he had asked for this fight as he wants to fight the toughest fighters there is and was craving for some Shavkat meat!
Now, the champ reiterated that he was not trying to be Diddy. Belal asserted that he was the hunter and it was time to go hunting for some Shavkat meat. He said,
“I am always the hunter, I am never the hunted even with this fight. I asked for this fight. I am the hunter, and I am starving. My fridge is empty, I need some Shavkat meat. No Diddy. But that is what I am looking for. I want to fight the best guys, the toughest guys.
Belal has sort of been starting beefs with everyone imaginable from former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman to Conor McGregor, proving everyone who ever called him boring, wrong.
