Belal Muhammad earned at least one new supporter in the form of Israel Adesanya thanks to his championship crowning at UFC 304.
Muhammad upset the odds against home country favorite Leon Edwards to emerge from this past weekend's pay-per-view event in Manchester, England, with the welterweight title in his possession.
Amid doubt from plenty in the MMA community, "Remember the Name" vowed to unseat "Rocky" with a dominant and one-sided display at the Co-op Live. He achieved that feat against most pre-fight predictions, avoiding a few scares across five rounds to secure a convincing victory on the scorecards.
The new champ quickly began his 'I told you so' tour in the aftermath of his title win, and among those who could expect a visit given their pre-UFC 304 thoughts on Muhammad's chances is former two-time middleweight champ Adesanya...
During a video recently uploaded to his FREESTYLEBENDER YouTube channel, Adesanya reacted live to the major matchups that played out in the UK this past weekend.
During UFC 304 fight week, "The Last Stylebender" laid his support behind Edwards, a friend of his who is managed by the same team. Adesanya predicted that "Rocky" would simply have too much for the challenger.
Having been proved wrong, the Nigerian-New Zealander had nothing but praise for the victorious Muhammad, noting that he is now a fan of the newly crowned welterweight kingpin.
He put him on his head! Bro, that rocked him. His head, that was bad. Look at it. That's bad, bro! Spiked him," Adesanya said after Muhammad dropped Edwards on his head. "Jesus Christ, Belal. Even if he loses this fight, I'm a fan of him now. I knew his name, of course, but I'll remember the name.
Bro, what the f*ck. Yo, Belal's nice. What Michael (Bisping) just said; he's fighting fearlessly. He's fighting in Leon's home country, coming for his belt, and fighting like this," Adesanya continued. "Leon knows. But that, what a rally at the end though. ... What a story though, Belal, to do that after coming back from the eye poke, now this in his (Edwards') backyard. Everybody doubting him, including me. Give it up to him, what a story.
Adesanya certainly doesn't mark the only doubter whom Muhammad proved wrong on fight night in Manchester. "Remember the Name" made good on his promise to dominate the champ in his backyard — a prediction that not many had entertained pre-fight.
Having extended his unbeaten streak and completed his goal of having the gold wrapped around his waist, Muhammad will now turn his attention to a first defense and beginning to build his championship legacy.
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