Belal Muhammad (24-3) recently dismissed Shavkat Rakhmonov’s (18-0) claims that he isn’t keeping his promise of being an active champion.
Muhammad won the welterweight title with a unanimous decision win over Leon Edwards at UFC 304 this past July. Rakhmonov claims he has since received an offer to challenge “Remember the Name,” which he accepted. However, “Nomad” accuses Muhammad of turning down the booking, which was supposedly offered for UFC 307 on Oct. 5 in Salt Lake City, Utah. According to Rakhmonov, Muhammad rejected the offer due to the timeline. The undefeated Kazakh also accuses Muhammad of not being an active champion.
“Actually I’ve already been offered to fight Belal and I accepted the fight against Belal,” Rakhmomov told MMAFighting.com. “But unfortunately he declined to fight me due to timing issues. He wasn’t ready to defend is belt on that time. So we’ll see what’s gonna happen and when he’s gonna be ready. So I’ll be able to fight him. Before he became a champion and after he won the belt he said he’s gonna be an active champion and he will defend his belt more often. But at the moment he isn’t backing up what he said… It was in October, for Salt Lake card [UFC 307].”
Muhammad had previously said that he would prefer to make his first title defense at UFC 308, which goes down on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. However, the champ seemingly isn’t ready to defend his title earlier that same month.
Responding to Rakhmonov’s allegations, Muhammad brought up the Kazakh’s own inactivity this year. “Nomad,” who considers himself the most deserving for the next title shot, comes off a submission win over Stephen Thompson at UFC 296 in Decembe, 2023. Muhammad believes Rakhmonov must undergo another test in former champ Kamaru Usman to determine the next title contender.
“Inactive? Lol I’m still on trial and Shavkat hasn’t fought since 2023,” Muhammad wrote on X. “I think Shavkat and Usman should fight to find the real No. 1 contender.”
Inactive? Lol I’m still on trial and Shavkat hasn’t fought since 2023 I think Shavkat and usman should fight to find the real number one contender pic.twitter.com/7fKYMZsqbl
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) August 30, 2024
Muhammad is undefeated in 11 outings since 2019 which includes two finishes. Meanwhile, all of Rakhmonov’s 18 career wins have come via stoppage, six of those in the UFC.
