Belal Muhammad and Islam Makhachev share a bond deeper than friendship — they’re like brothers! Yet, despite their closeness, the reigning lightweight champion is quietly watching his friend’s next move with calculated interest. Sources close to Makhachev’s camp revealed that the Dagestani star is eyeing a move to welterweight — but only if Muhammad loses his title to Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315 on May 10. Should the Palestinian-American falter, the 155lbs kingpin could be next in line to shake up the 170-pound division. And why not? Ahead of UFC 311 earlier this year, Makhachev made one thing very clear: “I’m not going to leave this sport without a second belt. This is my goal.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s protégé wants to accomplish what even his mentor couldn’t do. Win a second UFC belt! While this is a fact, you may also be aware that the Dagestanis have a strict ‘no fighting friends and teammates’ policy. Since Nurmagomedov and Makhachev consider ‘Bully B’ their friend, they won’t fight him. But it seems that Belal’s Aussie opponent is fair game for them. However, there is another possibility that Muhammad ultimately moves up to middleweight, leaving the runway clear for Makhachev landing at 170lbs. But to go that route, the lightweight champ would have to wait for a long time, as ‘Bully B’ revealed in a recent interview with MMA Junkie.
“I mean, for me, it’s like just building my legacy and getting to the point where, like, they are asking me to move up because there’s nothing left for me at welterweight. They’re [the UFC] asking me, “Yo bro, you’ve dominated all these guys… Go up there and beat up Dricus [Du Plessis].” And like that’s something I would look for, but like I said, I think I still have to earn it,” the welterweight champ told ‘MMA Junkie’.
“I think I still need two or three more wins, title defenses to be like ‘All right now it’s time.” Because even now, where it’s like I have five top 10 wins in my division. So I go out there, I beat Jack, then whatever, Shavkat’s the next one, whoever’s after that. Then it’s like, ‘all right, well now it’s gonna be all rematches again. So you might as well start moving up and start looking upwards,” he added.
February 26, 2025, Montreal, PQ, CANADA: UFC 315 welterweight champion Belal Muhammad, left, poses with contender Jack Della Maddalena following a press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz to announce their upcoming fight in Montreal on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. Canada News – February 26, 2025 PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY – ZUMAc35_ 20250226_zaf_c35_039 Copyright: xChristinnexMuschix
So in short, Muhammad wants to move up the right way. And that is by clearing out his division so emphatically that Dana White and Co. positively plead with him to move up and fight for the 185-pound title. Indeed, the top of the welterweight division is pretty stacked right now. The undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov is almost definitely next in line for a title shot, with Sean Brady hot on his heels.
The prodigal Ian Garry is another guy who looks like he would be contending for the title soon, as will the surging Joaquin Buckley if he gets a couple more wins. So there is a long list of guys for Muhammad to fight, even if he beats Maddalena, and he feels that Makhachev is in a similar position.
Belal Muhammad points out the many contenders for Islam Makhachev to fight at 155lbs
“I have a lot of challenges. I got a long list of guys in front of me. And even with for Islam now, with Paddy Pimblett with that huge win, he got another guy right there. He’s got Justin Gaethje right there. If Topuria gets a win, he got him right there,” Muhammad said in the same interview.
Actually, he didn’t quite give the full list. As far as lightweight title contenders at the moment are concerned, Arman Tsarukyan and Charles Oliveira have as good a claim to fight for the title as anyone else. In fact, those two guys may have the best claim to fight for the title next. But Makhachev is desperate to move up and fight for a second title. This raises the question. Why the hurry? After all, he is 33 and looks unbeatable.
But maybe it’s because there is an invisible clock ticking on Makahchev’s career. At least that is what his coach, Javier Mendez, thinks. “He’s going to probably do what Khabib did and retire at 35. Well, Khabib did it a lot earlier, but I think 35 is the magic number for these guys. They have that in their head, that 35 is the cutoff point. Some will go over, but I think Islam is already set financially; he’s done really well with his money, so I think it will probably be lights out after 35,” the AKA head coach told ‘Submission Radio’ in a recent interview.
If this is true, it is understandable why the Dagestani is in such a hurry to move up. Waiting for ‘Bully B’ to clear out the division and move up to middleweight would take at least a couple of years, which might be entirely too long for Makhachev. What do you think about Belal Muhammad’s comments about the only scenario he sees himself moving up to 185lbs?
The post “They Are Asking Me to Move Up” – Belal Muhammad Addresses Only Way to Settle Islam Makhachev’s UFC Double Champ Dilemma appeared first on EssentiallySports.
