Khabib Nurmagomedov had some eye-opening recommendation for Belal Muhammad following the Chicago native’s welterweight title win final yr.
After profitable 9 straight contained in the Octagon, ‘Remember The Name’ secured the largest win of his profession at UFC 304, scoring a unanimous choice victory over Leon Edwards in Manchester to seize the welterweight championship.
Returning to the ‘Second City’ shortly after, Muhammad acquired a hero’s welcome, however his time to rejoice was reduce brief after ‘The Eagle’ broke down what it means to not simply grow to be a UFC champion however to stay a UFC champion.
“Khabib told me, like, the first thing he told me after the fight was, ‘Now you got to train twice as hard because now the bullseye is on your back. Everybody’s only looking at you, and they’re trying to find your weaknesses. So you have to keep working and keep evolving,’” Muhammad advised Barstool Chicago.“There are a lot of champions who will win the belt, and then, all of a sudden, they’re getting a lot more money. They’re getting a lot more, party invites. So, guys will fall off.”
May Belal Muhammad’s first UFC title protection go down in Chi-City?
Muhammad was initially set to defend his title for the primary time at UFC 310 towards Shavkat Rakhmonov. Sadly, he was compelled to bow out of the bout as a consequence of an an infection in his foot.
Since then, no particulars have been introduced relating to after we will see Muhammad again contained in the Octagon, however the UFC’s rumored return to Chicago later this yr may supply followers a detailed as to when.
“I’m looking to go everywhere on this planet,” White advised Sports activities Enterprise Journal late final yr. “We’re going to start going into cities that we haven’t been to [since] pre-pandemic. We’re going to start going back. We’re going to do Chicago in ‘25. We’re going to go back up to Seattle and hit a lot of other places that we haven’t been in a while, so we’re going to move around a lot in ’25.”
If the promotion plans on making its solution to The Windy Metropolis within the first half of 2025, there’s a superb probability we may see Muhammad postpone his return a bit longer in order that he can defend his title in entrance of a hometown crowd.
