Daniel Cormier has joined many fight fans in critiquing the staredown between UFC Welterweight Champion Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310, describing the moment as underwhelming.
The faceoff took place after Rakhmonov's victory over Ian Garry, which positioned him as the next contender for Muhammad’s title. The originally planned headliner between "Remember the Name" and "Nomad" was canceled after the champ withdrew due to a toe infection.
When Muhammad was finally allowed inside the Octagon for the staredown, the interaction remained respectful, which Cormier felt lacked the intensity needed to hype the fight.
I’ve got to be honest. It was weird,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “I don’t love faceoffs when you have a translator, especially when Belal, as much as people want to hate him, he’s not a disrespectful guy. So it doesn’t make that moment that you’re looking for when you bring a champion into the ring.
Cormier compared the moment to other notable post-fight interactions, highlighting the promotional value that was missing.
When (Alexander Volkanovski) came in after (Ilia) Topuria beat Max (Holloway), they shook hands and they left. It was very respectful. But you understood what they were saying. When (Sean) O’Malley was in there, and he was about to fight Aljo (Aljamain Sterling) for the belt, Merab (Dvalishvili) takes the jacket, that makes a memory. This tonight, I don’t think it served the purpose that you want, as a promotion, in regards to what you’re going to do to try to build that fight.
While the staredown was meant to ignite anticipation for their potential title fight, Cormier believes the lack of drama or significant engagement may have fallen short of its promotional goal.