Newark, NJ — The chance to fight in the UFC 288 main event, with a title shot on the line, was something Belal Muhammad “couldn’t say no” to, he explained ahead of his fight with Gilbert Burns this Saturday.
It’s all but official now — as official as such things can be — that the winner of Muhammad vs. Burns will face the winner of Edwards vs. Covington later this year. As to what goes into the decision to take such an important fight on short notice, well, that boils down to the mental game, according to Muhammad.
“The most important thing most of the time when you have a fight is where’s your mentality at, where’s your mind at?” Muhammad explained to media outlets including Cageside Press during this week’s UFC 288 media day. “Because you could sit there and train your body for eight weeks, feel the best you can feel, and then if you just feel something trigger in your head, something where you don’t feel right, the whole fight, the whole camp could be worth nothing.”
During Ramadan, Muhammad added, “my mind is the strongest it’s ever been. Spiritually, mentally, it just puts me on a whole different level. To know that my mental game was 100%, I didn’t care what my body game was, I didn’t care what the weight cut was, I didn’t care what the rounds were. Because I knew mentally, I could get through anything.”
Muhammad is obviously a fighter for whom faith is important. But beyond that, he wants to make sure that no one can deny him his title shot after UFC 288.
“This moment right here is where careers are made, where legendary stories are told. And to be able to do that, off of that, I want people to sit there and be like ‘how? What’d you do, what are you taking?’ There’s nothing that nobody could deny me for after I win this fight Saturday night.”
Earlier Wednesday, opponent Gilbert Burns revealed that it was Muhammad who requested their fight be five rounds, a distinction usually reserved for main events and title fights. As to the reason for that request, Muhammad explained that “because it’s a championship fight to me.”
“The winner of this fight is fighting for the belt. I think this fight could be a title fight right here. So I wanted to have that feel, I wanted to have that championship feel. I wanted to make it feel like this is my title shot. I want it to be that big, this fight is that big. This fight should be for a title, this fight is up there. We’re the two best welterweights in the division, and Saturday night, it should be for a title.”
#UFC288 's @bullyb170 on the possibility of sliding into Colby Covington's title slot in Abu Dhabi later this year.
Full vid ➡️: https://t.co/62PDoKui8B pic.twitter.com/yMR7N9TZgE
— Cageside Press (@Cagesidepress) May 3, 2023
Belal Muhammad also hopes he can skip the line and slide into Colby Covington’s title shot later this year if all goes well.
“If I put on a great performance this weekend and get a tremendous finish or something, they’re going to Abu Dhabi, you think they’re going to have Leon fight Colby in Abu Dhabi? Nah, they’re going to have me fight in Abu Dhabi,” exclaimed Muhammad. “It’ll be like a dream come true, and I think that’ll be how the story’s supposed to be written.”
“I’ve just got to do my work this weekend. I don’t really care when nothing else is, I know my next fight’s going to be for the belt.”
Watch the full UFC 288 media day appearance by Belal Muhammad above.
