"They told me I was gonna fight Chimaev in London" - Belal Muhammad says UFC offered him both Khamzat Chimaev and Gilbert Burns before Vicente Luque
Belal Muhammad has revealed that the UFC offered him a fight against Khamzat Chimaev and then against Gilbert Burns before eventually booking him to face Vicente Luque. Speaking to ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto, Muhammad stated:
“I mean, it was kind of weird. It kept going back and forth with either Luque, Chimaev, and Gilbert. At first, they told me I was gonna fight Chimaev in London. And I was like, ‘Alright, excited for that.’ I tell my family to look up tickets.”
“And then the next day they call me, they go, ‘Oh, wait. It’s gonna be you and Gilbert.’ And I was like, ‘Alright.’ And then they were like, ‘Wait. You and Luque.’ And I was like, ‘Dude, I don’t really care. Just give me a contract.’ That ended up just being the Luque (fight). But yeah, it’s a fight that I always wanted back anyway.”
The No. 5-ranked UFC welterweight Muhammad alluded to the fact that Luque is ranked No. 4. On that note, ‘Remember the Name’ emphasized that the fight also made sense due to Luque’s rank in the division. Muhammad insinuated that a win over Luque could help catapult him into the UFC welterweight title picture.
Additionally, Muhammad pointed out that the changes in matchmaking likely took place because Burns and Luque are good friends and didn’t want to fight one another. He opined that the UFC shuffled the matchups because they didn't want any fighters to stay on the sidelines.
Furthermore, Muhammad explained that out of the three aforementioned opponents, his first preference was to fight Chimaev in London. Muhammad added that he had no problem with fighting Burns or Luque either, but he wasn’t going to argue regardless of who the UFC matched him up against.
Watch Belal Muhammad’s conversation with Brett Okamoto in the video below:
UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski on Belal Muhammad’s rematch against Vicente Luque
The No. 11-ranked welterweight Khamzat Chimaev is scheduled to fight the No. 2-ranked Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 on April 9th. Meanwhile, Belal Muhammad will fight Vicente Luque in a rematch at UFC Fight Night: Luque vs. Muhammad 2 on April 16th. Their first fight witnessed Luque defeating Muhammad via first-round KO at UFC 205 in November 2016.
First finish at #ufc205 goes to Vicente Luque with a wicked left hook to stop Belal Muhammad. #UFCNYC https://t.co/Qze2bmLqW5
In an edition of MMA Pros Pick with James Lynch, UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski addressed the Muhammad-Luque rematch and picked Luque to beat Muhammad. Volkanovski said:
“Luque is good, man. He’s a dangerous fighter. Belal, he’s obviously tough in that as well. So, that’ll be a good matchup. But I think I’m gonna have to go with Luque.”