Khabib Nurmagomedov does not want to take any credit away from Belal Muhammad or his coaches. It is no secret that the American was training alongside Team Khabib in preparation for his title fight against Leon Edwards at UFC 304. Although many fans saw the uncanny resemblance to ‘The Eagle’ during his fight, the Dagestani fighter has given all the credit to his team.
Following his dominant win over Leon Edwards, fans started comparing the American to Nurmagomedov, calling him a modern-day version of him.
This included UFC president Dana White, who also talked about how he never expected a barnburner from the main event between Edwards and Belal as the Palestinian-American fighter was training with Khabib Nurmagomedov. And Khabib has never been a KO artist but a relentless pressure sambo wrestling expert who specialized in ground and pound.
Now, ‘The Eagle’ saw White’s comments about how Muhammad training with him and everyone else giving him credit for the win and decided to set the record straight.
“Belal trained with his coaches, he has very high-class coaches, I just helped him in small things. All credit goes to his coaches and Belal’s heart.”
Khabib via Instagram Stories pic.twitter.com/1FlSstHK94
— THE UFCGUY (@the_ufcguy) July 29, 2024
So yes, Belal only went to train alongside Team Khabib to get some championship-level knowledge and improve his ground game.
Following his win, Belal himself gave fans a message after all the comparisons to Nurmagomedov and Georges St-Pierre.
Belal shuts down all the Khabib and GSP comparisons
Immediately after his fight, fans began comparing the newly crowned champion to the likes of former champions like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Georges St-Pierre.
This is all thanks to his wrestling dominant style that saw him control 4 out of the 5 rounds. However, during his octagon interview, he had to shut down all the comparisons,
“I’m no Khabib, I’m no GSP, I’m Belal Muhammad. I’m my own man and now the world knows it, they see it, they gotta start respecting it, I’m a real champion.”
“I’m no Khabib, I’m no GSP, I’m Belal Muhammad.” ️
New champ @BullyB170 said it best! #AndNew #UFC304 pic.twitter.com/fOoQf3t6lM
— UFC_Asia (@UFC_Asia) July 28, 2024
‘Remember the Name’ does not want to be compared to the greats, he is his own man and as such he wants to be seen as someone with his own fighting style. However, the fact that he trains alongside Khabib Nurmagomedov does not help his case. Just as lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev is called Khabib 2.0 since he also sees Khabib has a mentor and has similar styles.
