Belal Muhammad responds to Shavkat Rakhmonov calling for interim title fight at UFC 310 after his withdrawal: "It's six weeks, not six months"
Belal Muhammad recently addressed Shavkat Rakhmonov's call for an interim title fight following the American's withdrawal from UFC 310. The reigning welterweight champion was scheduled to defend his title against Rakhmonov in the main event of UFC's final pay-per-view event of 2024, set to take place on Dec. 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
However, 'Remember the Name' announced earlier this week that he had to withdraw from the fight due to a bone infection in his foot. Following this unfortunate situation, Rakhmonov recently took to social media, calling for an interim title fight with any fighter in the 170-pound division to salvage the headliner.
During a recent appearance on The Anik & Florian Podcast, Muhammad responded to 'Nomad' requesting an interim title bout and questioned the reasoning behind that demand.
'Remember the Name', however, suggested that if the UFC aims to save the main event of UFC 310, they should pair Rakhmonov with a deserving contender, as most of the top fighters in the division are either already scheduled for fights or sidelined due to injuries:
"I could see them [UFC] trying to do something with Shavkat, but he's calling for an interim title fight, and I'm like, 'Interim title fight? Bro, it's six weeks, not six months that I'm off.' But even for myself, if they want to just do that to make it a main event, I mean, I don't really care about it if they want to make it a title fight regardless because they know who has the real belt. So for me, I know who my next opponent is gonna be. If he wants to wait, it's gonna be us."
Check out Belal Muhammad's comments below (19:05):
Muhammad secured the welterweight title with a dominant unanimous decision victory over Leon Edwards at UFC 304 in July.
Daniel Cormier dismisses calls for interim title bout at UFC 310 after Belal Muhammad's injury
During a fan Q&A session prior to UFC Edmonton on Friday, Daniel Cormier rejected the mounting demand for an interim title fight for Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 following Belal Muhammad's withdrawal from the event.
'DC' remarked that in the past, fighters would often wait a year or more for an interim matchup to come to fruition after a champion sustained an injury. However, he noted that nowadays, there is an unnecessary sense of urgency surrounding the issue:
"We've got to stop with the interim title; there's no need to make an interim title. Belal just won the belt in June or July? Back when I was fighting, if you got hurt, you had a year before they made an interim champion. Now it's like people are calling for interim titles; you can almost will yourself into an interim title championship at this point."
Check out Daniel Cormier's comments below (11:20):