"He's not fighting scrubs" - Michael Chiesa believes Belal Muhammad has fought "higher level competition" than Colby Covington

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(From left to right) Belal Muhammad, Michael Chiesa and Colby Covington [Image Courtesy: @bullyb170, @miekmav22 and @colbycovmma on Instagram]

During the UFC Vegas 51 pre-show, Michael Chiesa was called upon to put some respect on Belal Muhammad’s name as "he’s not fighting scrubs."

During the conversation, there was a comparison made between Colby Covington and Muhammad. According to Michael Chiesa, ‘Remember The Name’ has fought tougher opponents than Covington. Here's what he said:

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“Yeah Colby’s very highly regarded and I believe Belal fought a higher level of competition than Colby Covington. Sorry guys, but you know I think that people got to put some respect on Belal’s name. Because look at the guys he’s fighting. He’s not fighting scrubs. He fights contenders."

To prove his point. Chiesa has brought up Muhammad’s fight against Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Daukaus. Belal Muhammad won it via unanimous decision, but he was close to winning it in the very first round. He continued by saying:

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"When he fought ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, ‘Wonderboy’ was the number five guy in the world. So yeah, he’s not putting these guys away, but he goes out there and he’s putting the heat on him. And look, he almost put ‘Wonderboy’ away in the first round. I mean he had hooks in, he had him belly down, he almost got the TKO win in the first round. And that would’ve silenced the critics."

Belal Muhammad will headline the upcoming UFC Fight Night as he takes on Vicente Luque. Muhammad sports a 20-3, 1 NC professional MMA record and rides a six-fight winning streak. He most recently won over the aforementioned ‘Wonderboy’.

Vicente Luque has a 21-7-1 MMA record. He boasts a four-fight win streak. He has also fought Stephen Thompson. But unlike Muhammad, he was bested by him.

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This will be the second meeting between these two fighters. They previously fought at UFC 205 with Luque knocking out Muhammad in the very first round.

Watch Michael Ciesa talk about the level of Muhammad’s opposition below:

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Belal Muhammad on being the better version of Colby Covington.

In his most recent interview with Yahoo! Sports, ‘Remember The Name’ said that ‘Chaos’ was the toughest challenge that Kamaru Usman has faced, and that’s all good with him as he sees himself as Covington’s better version.

Belal also said that while Usman is considered unbeaten, he sees many openings in his game and that his style would match up perfectly against the champion.

Watch the entire interview below:

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