Former UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad steps into UFC Qatar on Saturday night with one mission in mind, to fight his way back to the throne he briefly held. Facing rising contender Ian Garry in a high-stakes matchup, Muhammad enters determined, battle-tested, and fully focused on proving he’s still the man to beat at 170 pounds.
Muhammad (24-4) wasn’t certain Ian Garry would be next until a fellow former champion turned him down. According to Muhammad, Kamaru Usman declined the matchup, leaving him to pivot toward the biggest name available at 170 pounds, besides himself, rising star Ian Garry.
“I think it became Ian once Kamaru Usman turned the fight down and ran away,” Muhammad told reporters on Wednesday.
“Ian’s one of the guys that’s always willing to fight somebody and fight the toughest test. He was coming off a big win against (Carlos) Prates so it made the most sense.”
Muhammad didn’t mince words when discussing how the matchup came together. After Usman passed on the fight, Muhammad made it clear he took the decision personally, and as confirmation of what he’d long suspected.
“I’m not disappointed. I just know that he was afraid. For me, I’ve been trying to fight him for a long time,” he said.
“It just confirmed my thoughts that he’s a coward.”
As fight week intensity ramps up, Belal Muhammad hasn’t shied away from addressing Ian Garry’s brash personality and nonstop trash talk. To him, the divide between Garry’s words and his actual performances is clearer than ever, and he plans to expose that gap on fight night.
“I mean he’s a better talk than he is a fighter. I think, when we get into the cage, those words aren’t going to mean anything. I’m going to be standing in front of you and then you have to put those words to action,” said Muhammad.
“When he tries to put those words into action my reaction is going to break him. He’s going to fold and we’ve seen him in his last fight. He was close to breaking point. I’m going to let him reach that breaking point.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Belal Muhammad above. He faces Ian Garry at UFC Qatar on Saturday night.
