"The winner of my fight fights him" - Belal Muhammad confident that a win over Vicente Luque will see him face Khamzat Chimaev next
Belal Muhammad says defeating Vicente Luque could set him up with a bumper fight against Khamzat Chimaev. Speaking to Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole, Muhammad discussed his upcoming rematch against Luque and much more.
The interview was purportedly recorded before Chimaev’s win over Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 on April 9.
Muhammad outlined alternative scenarios as to how his future could be impacted based on who won the Chimaev-Burns fight:
“It comes down to if Khamzat wins. I think that if he wins, I think it'll end up being the winner of my fight fights him. If Gilbert Burns ends up winning, I think that the winner of our fight is the No.1 contender to fight [Kamaru] Usman or Leon Edwards. And in general, I just don’t know if Usman really is gonna be back in July.”
Muhammad said he was interested to see whether the UFC officially booked the reported Usman-Edwards UFC welterweight title fight. ‘Remember the Name’ revealed that he had heard “bad things” about hand injuries akin to the one that welterweight champion Usman is currently recovering from.
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@KChimaev does enough to score a unanimous decision victory at #UFC273 🐺 https://t.co/mhEZZuwOwm
The 33-year-old indicated that once fighters suffer a serious hand injury, they often end up reinjuring their hands. He suggested that if Usman is unable to return within a reasonable timeframe, the UFC ought to book an interim UFC welterweight title fight between himself and Leon Edwards. Muhammad said:
“So, I don’t know if he (Usman) is trying to come back a little bit too quicker than he should. If that happens, then maybe there’s an interim title fight, and it’s me against Leon.”
Watch Belal Muhammad’s conversation with Kevin Iole in the video below:
Kenny Florian on Belal Muhammad’s rematch against Vicente Luque
Vicente Luque defeated Belal Muhammad via first-round KO at UFC 205 in November 2016. They’re set to clash in a rematch at UFC on ESPN: Luque vs. Muhammad 2 on April 16.
On the Anik & Florian podcast, former UFC fighter Kenny Florian weighed in on the Muhammad-Luque rematch and said:
"For Belal, I think that he has a little bit more paths to victory... I think Luque is extremely dangerous... if it gets down to being a war... I like Luque's chances there. I think Luque will win that fight. But Belal, I think, is so smart and he's so good at never allowing fighters to do what they do… So, I like Belal here.”
Florian said Belal Muhammad is well-poised to win the rematch, adding that the latter is not someone who makes major mistakes or takes major risks and instead chooses the smartest path to victory.