Jorge Masvidal details how Belal Muhammad changed his mind: "A guy I didn't think was f***ing the greatest thing on earth"
Jorge Masvidal's perception of Belal Muhammad appears to have shifted. Masvidal recently discussed Muhammad's title win at UFC 304 and the growth he noticed in the reigning welterweight champion.
Despite being the underdog, Muhammad pulled off an incredible victory in the main event of UFC 304 this July, where he dethroned Leon Edwards in front of his home audience via unanimous decision and became the new welterweight champion. The win over Edwards was probably the best of the Chicago native's career, arriving at the ideal time to silence his critics.
In a recent interview with Grind City Media, Masvidal discussed watching Muhammad live during the latter's early fighting days. He said:
''Man, Belal, wow, I saw one of his pro fights outside of the UFC in Chicago and I didn't think anything great at the time. I was like, he's not a good athlete, like the best athlete and it wasn't like he had the craziest skill sets at that time. So when I saw him fight live, I said, 'he's a good fighter, he's tough as nails, he'll be in the top 10' but I didn't think champ. Then he got into the UFC, started slowly climbing those rankings.''
Masvidal then expressed his admiration for Muhammad's performance against Edwards at UFC 304, saying:
''When he fought Leon all together, he looked like a world champion and just it's awesome to see that a guy that I didn't think was f***ing the greatest thing on earth and he's putting all that hard work, all the attrition that was taking to get there and now he's world champion.''
Check out Jorge Masvidal's comments below (4:23):
In his most recent combat sports appearance, Masvidal competed against Nate Diaz in a 10-round boxing contest on July 6, where the former welterweight title challenger was defeated by a majority decision.
Jorge Masvidal confirms his return to MMA
Jorge Masvidal was coming off four straight losses during his time with the UFC, his most recent setback came against Gilbert Burns at UFC 287 last year via unanimous decision. After that, he decided to retire in front of his home audience.
However, in the aforementioned interview with Grind City Media, Masvidal spoke candidly about how much he missed MMA. The former BMF champion then went on to confirm his return to MMA, saying:
''There ain’t sh*t in the world like MMA. I just finished up training at American Top Team (ATT) right now and it’s just the funniest thing I’ve ever done in my life. A lot of nights, I went to sleep just missing it, just doing certain training or certain workouts. I f***ing love it, man. Definitely 100 percent back to MMA. I don’t know when I’m fighting but I’m fighting at either the end of this year or next year.” [3:43]