"Belal beats Khamzat Chimaev" - UFC veteran predicts a bizarre 2023 championship result
UFC fighter Matt Brown recently made a bunch of predictions regarding the promotion's welterweight division, including the outcome of a possible showdown between Khamzat Chimaev and Belal Muhammad.
While speaking to MMA Fighting, 'The Immortal' showered praise on Muhammad and named him as the biggest threat in the 170-pound division. Giving his predictions, Brown stated that Kamaru Usman would beat Leon Edwards in a trilogy fight to regain the title.
Brown added that according to him, 'Remember the Name' or Usman would hold the title at the end of 2023. The 41-year-old also believes that Muhammad would get the better of Chimaev in a possible showdown.
While predicting Muhammad vs. 'The Nigerian Nightmare', Brown called the contest a razor-close affair that would likely be settled on the judges' scorecards.
"I think Belal Muhammad is probably the biggest threat to all of these guys. I think Usman beats Leon and the champ at the end of the year is either Belal or Usman... I think Belal beats Khamzat and I'm 50-50 on him beating Usman. That's a really, really close fight that I think goes to a decision and is probably a really tough call for the judges," said Matt Brown.
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Belal Muhammad is currently ranked fourth in the UFC's welterweight rankings and has been undefeated in his last nine outings. During his current run, 'Remember the Name' has defeated the likes of Sean Brady, Vicente Luque and Stephen Thompson.
If a trilogy fight between Usman and Edwards does not happen next, Muhammad, given his resume, has a solid claim to a fight for the title.
Khamzat Chimaev claims nobody is ready to fight him
During his short stint in the UFC, Khamzat Chimaev has grown to be a huge star in the UFC and has also become a serious threat in the welterweight division. 'Borz' is currently 12-0 as a fighter and 11 of those wins have been finishes.
Despite his current placement (No. 3) in the 170-pound shark tank, the Chechen-born Swede has been facing difficulty finding opponents. According to Chimaev, fighters have been doing a lot of trash talk but behind the scenes, they are trying to dodge a fight against him.
"Nobody wants to fight. F**k these boys. They give me different opponents, nobody wants to fight... Gonna fight somebody, I don't know who, they change the opponents all day, all the time. Every week I have new opponents, but nobody wants to fight.
"The guys speak a lot of trash talk, a lot of s**t about me and 'I want to fight you.' When it comes to the fight and signing the contract, everyone runs away," said Khamzat Chimaev.
You can listen to Khamzat Chimaev speak about fighters possibly avoiding him from the 2:12 mark below: