Belal Muhammad has nothing but praise for Khabib Nurmagomedov. The American trains with Team Khabib on a regular basis and often grapples with ‘The Eagle’. Although the former champion doesn’t fight anymore, he trains every day along with the team and sometimes on his own as well. And it has been during these training sessions that ‘Remember the Name’ has realized what made the Dagestani fighter so great.
Belal has spoken about how training with Khabib and his team has helped improve his game over the years, even more so for his last fight against Leon Edwards. In a recent interview with Fighter N the Kid, he spoke about how ‘The Eagle’ himself trained so hard and so frequently that he could come back and just win the titles if he wanted to.
Apparently Khabib used to manhandle Belal so much leading up to UFC 304 that when the fight card was announced with him in the main event, he was unsure if he was even up to the task.
“I was like ‘bro I’m getting killed by him’ and then all of a sudden I get the fight announcement and I’m like ‘bro, I suck’… Khabib could literally come back and be a champion right now. In any division he wants.”
Belal Muhammad says Khabib was “toying” with him and throwing him around during training:
“I was like ‘bro I’m getting killed by [Khabib]’ and then all of a sudden I get the fight announcement and I’m like ‘bro, I suck’…
[Khabib] could come back and be a champion right now.… pic.twitter.com/PR4Wn37ZJ2
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) August 13, 2024
Of course, there is a good chance that some of this praise is hyperbole and comes from a place of love and respect that Belal has for Khabib and the Dagestani fighters.
So much so, Belal, despite his two division champion ambitions will never fight lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
No money can make Belal vs. Islam possible
Belal always chooses brotherhood over money. The Palestinian-American knows how special it is for Team Khabib to allow him to train with them.
They have a very close-knit team and group and don’t usually allow outsiders in.
So naturally, when Brendan Schaub asked him if he would fight Makhachev, he straight away denied it.
“For me it’s more so about the respect and what they’ve done for me that I would never want to like tarnish that. It’s more about loyalty to me than anything.”
My guy @bullyb170 won’t fight Islam for any amount of money. Not even 15 million. I’d pull @bryancallen teeth out for far less money with a smile on my face. I love Bryan. pic.twitter.com/b5n8eGMgKF
— Brendan Schaub (@BrendanSchaub) August 13, 2024
Schaub even put up a number of $15 million and Belal still stood firm in his belief that he would not fight Makhachev.
Belal, of course, is only returning the favor. Even before he had won the welterweight title, Makhachev has been saying no to fighting with Belal courtesy of their brotherhood. And after Belal ended Leon Edwards’ title reign in Manchester, the lightweight champion has only doubled down, telling scribes that the Second City native’s win had put a dent in his ambitions.
Makhachev, of course, wants to do what nobody from Team Khabib has done before i.e., become a champion in two divisions and he is more than capable of pulling it off. However, the welterweight division is out of his crosshairs now that Belal reigns supreme in the division.
