Belal Muhammad defeated Leon Edwards via unanimous decision at UFC 304 to win the UFC welterweight championship. Many expected Edwards to defend the title comfortably, but Muhammad out-struck the champ and secured over 12 minutes of control time with nine takedowns.
There's no shortage of contenders for the new champion at welterweight. While Gilbert Burns, Ian Garry, and Jack Della Maddalena are potentially one good win away from a title shot, Shavkat Rakhmonov is seen as the clear contender since his submission of Stephen Thompson.
Rakhmonov, with his 100% finish rate, is one of the most intimidating prospects in the UFC, but Muhammad thinks that Kamaru Usman will be a tougher fight for him...
Belal Muhammad Calls Kamaru Usman The Toughest Fight In UFC Welterweight Division Over Shavkat Rakhmonov, Jack Della Maddalena, And Others
Muhammad recently discussed his first title defense on the Submission Radio YouTube channel. Despite constantly trolling Usman since winning the title, he admitted that Rakhmonov deserves a title shot most. The former UFC welterweight kingpin, in his opinion, needs to get back into the win column after losing three fights in a row.
Muhammad doesn't underestimate Usman as an opponent, though. He acknowledges that the "Nigerian Nightmare" has a ton of experience fighting top-level competition and is one of the smartest fighters inside the Octagon.
Here's how the champ responded when asked about the tougher opponent between Rakhmonov and Usman:
Honestly, I would say Kamaru. Just because he's fought the highest level for so long. And, stylistically, he has one of the best IQs in the game. So, I think, for me, fighting somebody with the close to an IQ of myself would be a harder fight.
"Remember the Name" also looked back at Usman's short-notice bout against Khamzat Chimaev. Like many, he was impressed by the former UFC welterweight kingpin's performance against "Borz" and believes the fight could've gone the other way if there were two more rounds.
Like Usman, Muhammad claimed that MMA fans usually forget how good fighters are as soon as they lose a fight.
He still has tread on his tires. People will sit there and say, like, you said, people must have forgot, right? And its, people are quick to forget about you but he fought that fight with Khamzat on eight days' notice and it was a game of inches in that fight, right? It could, if it was two more rounds in there, I would've been very interested to see how it would have went.