Belal Muhammad takes on Leon Edwards this weekend at UFC 304 with the hopes of winning UFC gold at the first time of asking. Given that it is his first shot at the title, Muhammad has left no stone unturned and trained with Khabib Nurmagomedov and his team to ensure he is in the best shape possible. Prior to the fight, Muhammad shed light on what it was like to train with the ‘Michael Jordan’ of the sport.
A few days out from the biggest fight of his life, Muhammad sat down with ‘TNT Sports’ for an interview. During the conversation, the host asked Muhammad what it was like training with Khabib Nurmagomedov and his team. ‘
Remember the Name’ had only praise for ‘The Eagle’. Calling him the GOAT of MMA and talking about the Dagestani camp’s work ethics, he said:
“I mean it just puts you on a different level right? Because those guys, they’re on another level. The way they train, the way they work, there is nothing special about it, there are no hidden secrets, it’s just hard hard work.
The Palestinian-American also talked about how the camp had made him mentally tough. He added:
And I think that they make you so mentally tough cause the practices are so tough and they push you so hard. I consider him (Khabib) the ‘GOAT’ of MMA, to be able to talk to the Michael Jordan of your sport anytime.”
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The 36-year-old went on to add that having the ability to text Nurmagomedov at any time and run ideas by him is invaluable.
He also said that ‘The Eagle’ is constantly looking out for him and checks in on him from time to time to see how training is going on.
Muhammad even claimed that he is confident that the game plan devised along with Nurmagomedov will secure him a win.
Belal makes a bolt statement ahead of Edwards fight
In his last media day interview, Muhammad made a bold statement about where he would sit amongst welterweight champions if he beats ‘Rocky’. The 36-year-old stated that if he beats Edwards who has beaten Usman twice, who is considered by many as one of the greatest welterweights of all time, he would leapfrog Usman in the rankings.
Of course, as fans would know MMA math is not an exact science. See, Justin Gaethje beat Dustin Poirier but then the Lousiana native beat Max Holloway. Holloway then beat Gaethje for the BMF title. So does that negate Gaethje beating Poirier? NO! That’s not how this works!
But ‘Remember the name’ feels that a win over Edwards will place him right under ‘GSP’ in the rankings for the greatest welterweight champions of all time.
That’s a loud NOPE, right fellas?
