Belal Muhammad's plan to avoid fighting Islam Makhachev gets a blunt reality check from ex-UFC star: "Probably have to fight"
A former UFC lightweight contender Josh Thomson has spoken about the possibility of Islam Makhachev moving up in weight to challenge Belal Muhammad for the welterweight title.
The pound-for-pound king has long expressed his desire to move up in weight and chase a new challenge. However, he has also shared that he is unwilling to face Muhammad, given the fact that they are friends and often train together under the guidance of Khabib Nurmagomedov. In light of this, Makhachev has hinted at the possibility of skipping the 170-pound division and instead challenging for the middleweight title at 185 pounds.
On a recent episode of Weighing In, Josh Thomson shared his belief that Makhachev would not move up to the welterweight division, unless 'Remember the Name' either loses his belt or chooses to move up to 185 pounds. However, he also believes that the UFC would not offer the same courtesy to Muhammad that they would offer Makhachev. Thomson said:
"Islam will not go up unless it is for the title. If Belal is the champion, I don't believe he will go up. He is going to stay [at lightweight, unless] Belal loses the title, or if Belal goes up. Now Belal has brought that up, If Islam wants to come up, I will go up to 185 [pounds]."
'The Punk' added:
"I just don't know if [the UFC] are going to give Belal the same courtesy that they give Islam to fight for the automatic title shot. Belal is going to go up and probably have to fight someone like a Robert Whittaker or somebody along those lines. I don't think that they're going to honor that type of a relationship there."
Check out Josh Thomson's comments below (38:10):
Belal Muhammad predicts Islam Makhachev will finish Ilia Topuria in a potential fight
During an interview with Submission Radio, Belal Muhammad shared his thoughts about how a potential fight between Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria would play out, claiming that Makhachev will probably finish 'La Leyenda' by the second round:
"I think [Makhachev] would finish Topuria probably like by the second round. You've got a lot of these guys in the division that are saying— I'm not fighting nobody unless it is for the title. Charles [Oliveira] said it, Arman [Tsarukyan] said it, now Topuria is saying it, so the UFC just has to put the foot down and tell these guys— You fight, you shut up."
Check out Belal Muhammad's comments below: