Remember the time when Joe Rogan asked Belal Muhammad to come inside the Octagon and face Shavkat Rakhmonov after his UFC 310 war, but the security didn’t allow the Palestinian champion? Rogan had to spin it off and remark that security didn’t know he was the champion. Well, that incident stemmed quite a bit of unrest against the welterweight champion. According to many, Muhammad’s fights were pretty boring. And this led to him assembling an entire army against him. The latest lieutenant to go up against the reigning 170lbs kingpin was none other than BJJ ace Craig Jones. However, he wasn’t always someone who opposed Muhammad. So what went wrong? Let’s find out!
The duo’s apparent feud started when Jones was training with his fellow countryman and UFC 315 title challenger Jack Della Maddalena and posted it with the caption, “On a mission from God to save the welterweight division from Belal Muhammad.” The tension escalated when Jones posted a video where he punched an arcade machine with Muhammad’s face pasted on it. The video was captioned “Head striking coach,” and it wasn’t a playful act. It was total mockery!
In return, Muhammad warned Jones with a UFC 229-like post-fight brawl reference, where Khabib Nurmagomedov infamously jumped out of the cage to attack Dillon Danis after the bout was over. However, the Aussie wasn’t done yet. The B-Team head coach volleyed back with a line that cut deep as he shared on his Instagram story, “Man’s going to jump the fence and decision me.” This was a dig at Muhammad’s affinity towards decision wins inside the Octagon. For the unversed, the reigning champion only has two knockouts in his 18-fight UFC career.
And it seems that the BJJ ace is back with a bang! During an interview with The MacLife, Jones hilariously admitted, “I’ll be honest. This was not a personal vendetta by any means. I like Belal. I might be the only one. But let’s think back. It’s probably when this fight got booked, I got a phone call from a person. I don’t even know how they got my number, to be honest.”
He added, “But Dana White called me up and he said, ‘Listen, Craig, the UFC is in dire stress.’ As we know. You tell me that on a daily basis. And he said, ‘The fate of the UFC’s profitability, arguably even TKO as a whole, lays into this fight we’ve got coming up on Saturday night.’ He basically, Dana was begging me.”
He even recollected that he got to study the Dagestani wrestling systems when the UFC called him up to help Alexander Volkanovski against Islam Makhachev at UFC 284. According to Jones, the Dagestani wrestling focused on getting creative with lying on top of one’s opponent and holding them down. And with his help, ‘The Great’ was able to defend himself pretty decently against the lightweight champion. But now, Dana White wanted him to help Jack Della Maddalena.
He continued, “And basically, yeah, Dana White begging me. He’s saying, ‘Craig, you need to get out there. Give Jack everything you can to save us from Belal Muhammad.”
February 13, 2021, Las Vegas, Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, United States: Las Vegas, NV – February 13: Belal Muhammad interacts with media after the UFC 258 event at UFC Apex on February 13, 2021, in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Las Vegas, Nevada United States – ZUMAp175 20210213_zsa_p175_020 Copyright: xDiegoxRibasx
Let’s make it a bit clearer. Does this actually mean that the UFC wanted to get Craig Jones involved just to ensure that Muhammad lost? Jones answered, “100%. That goes without saying. I think I felt a natural pull from the fans. I was getting a lot of messages saying, ‘Please, for the love of God, help us get rid of Belal Muhammad.’ And I believe it’s even his contract. If he loses this fight, he’s out.”
This is most likely another addition to Jones and his mind games before the Montreal headliner. Needless to say, the pressure on ‘Remember The Name’ seemed pretty heavy. But he wasn’t one to step back. During the media day for UFC 315, the welterweight champion revealed what he thought of his beef with the ADCC star.
Belal Muhammad reacts to his beef with Craig Jones before UFC 315
As of now, everywhere one looked regarding the main event for UFC 315, they found heated words between Muhammad and Jones. And that’s exactly what the media personnel had to ask during the media day for UFC 315. So, what exactly does ‘Remember The Name’ think of the online battle of words between him and Jones? He said, “Yeah, he’s talking, right? He’s a character.”
However, he also had a bizarre request for the UFC. Muhammad declared that he loved it when there was a buildup to the fight. This is exactly why trash talk helps raise the entropy among the fans. Unfortunately, his current opponent, Della Maddalena, wasn’t someone who talked too much. Therefore, to make things right and balanced, Muhammad had a suggestion. The champion said, “It’s always fun. I love guys when there’s a little bit of trash talk, right? When there’s a little bit of build-up. Jack’s not a really big talker. So, let’s put Craig in the press conference.”
No doubt, if Jones came into the pre-fight press conference, things would get a lot more interesting than they are now. Nevertheless, the welterweight champion has already promised not to use his takedowns against Della Maddalena. Even during his conversation with Ian Garry’s son, he claimed that he’d win on his feet. Now, all we need to do is wait for Saturday night to see if he sticks to his words, or will the Aussie snatch the belt?
What are your thoughts on the beef between Jones and Muhammad? Do you think the duo might have to resolve their differences with a grappling bout? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
The post “Dana Was Begging” – Craig Jones Mocks Belal Muhammad as Dana White and UFC Dragged Into Controversy appeared first on EssentiallySports.
