Belal Muhammad slams latest UFC rankings update for failure to boost him over Colby Covington despite UFC 288 win

In the UFC's welterweight division, Belal Muhammad moved to no.3, overtaking Khamzat Chimaev, who fell down to the 4th position, after the events of UFC 288.

Despite Muhammad's dominant win over the no.5 ranked Burns, he is still ranked below Colby Covington. Covington last fought over a year ago, when he won a decision against Jorge Masvidal. Prior to that, Covington lost two title fights to then champion, Kamaru Usman.

Belal Muhammad reacted to the update in the rankings, tweeting:

"Fudge those numbers I’ll have a C next to my name soon"

@aaronbronsteter Fudge those numbers I’ll have a C next to my name soon

Given Belal's impressive ten-fight undefeated streak, fans were surprised to see that Muhammad had not overtaken Covington after the UFC rankings update.

User @Brandonb779 suggested that Belal Muhammad and Colby Covington should settle their score once and for all, tweeting:

"You and @ColbyCovMMA fight to decide who gets the title shot."

@bullyb170 @aaronbronsteter You and @ColbyCovMMA fight to decide who gets the title shot.

Another user @Mr_jumeirah accused Covington of ducking Muhammad, saying:

"I have a feeling that ull fight for interm belt as colby will fake an injury"

@bullyb170 @aaronbronsteter I have a feeling that ull fight for interm belt as colby will fake an injury

@DrARS777 suggested that the UFC was favoring Covington. He said:

"Dana White Privelige"

@bullyb170 @aaronbronsteter Dana White Privelige

@Justin_Gibbons tweeted:

"Facts"

@bullyb170 @aaronbronsteter #Facts

Belal Muhammad fought with a swollen ankle against Gilbert Burns, overcame adversity to secure the decision

Throughout the course of the UFC 288 bout between Belal Muhammad and Gilbert Burns, much was made about a supposed shoulder injury to Burns. Joe Rogan and the commentary team brought it up on numerous occasions on the live broadcast.

Much less, however, was said about the injuries Belal 'Remember the Name' Muhammad carried into the octagon. From pictures taken at the event, we can now see that Muhammad was nursing a swollen ankle, which looked particularly bad in a post-fight photo.

Despite the injury, which Belal told journalist Marc Raimondi about, Muhammad dominated Burns throughout the fight.

Wow so that picture of his ankle wasn’t a photoshop and he still gave Burns a free tour of the octagon on two week notice off the couch. twitter.com/mma_orbit/stat…

Prior to the bout, fans speculated about Muhammad's injury. From this video on Twitter, it looked like Muhammad's ankle was certainly injured before the fight. Regardless, it didn't appear to bother Muhammad inside the octagon.

Check out the video here:

Is Belal Muhammad going into his fight against Gilbert Burns with an injury?

#UFC288 https://t.co/HtPKzKn3BM