Belal Muhammad had his aim set straight at Kamaru Usman after ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ defeated Joaquin Buckley at UFC Atlanta. “Congrats see you soon,” ‘Remember The Name’ sent a tweet directed at Usman. But the UFC Atlanta main event winner refused to address Muhammad. Yes, it was as if he forgot the Palestinian’s name. He wrote, “Who is it? Who’s that? Next.” The heat was already pretty high, and things got even hotter as Muhammad introduced himself as the man who made Usman cry on his podcast.

According to Muhammad, things began to heat up during an episode of Pound4Pound while he was still the champion. Therein, he reportedly talked about how everyone wanted to interview him now that he was a champion. But being a former champion himself, Usman didn’t like it. On his appearance on Full Send Podcast, Muhammad said, “He [Usman] went ‘Anything you do, I do better than you’. And then I was like ‘But you didn’t take the head kick better than me!’. And I think that just triggered him. He was like ‘I don’t play these games man, it’s on sight.’”

With the #1 welterweight contender’s spot in his mind, Muhammad issued the challenge to ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’. Through Instagram, he said, “What I see—right? What I want—I want him to get on the mic and call me out. I think that’s the next one that makes sense. That’s the only fight that makes sense. If you’re talking about the division, we have history, you know? We’ve been going back and forth. It’s clearly a No. 1 contender fight. He’s calling for the belt at 185, 170—but I’m the number one. I’m still the guy at the top. So let’s do it. I think you could pick the date, pick the time, the place—and I’ll be ready for it, right?”

Now, before UFC Baku entertained us all, the former Palestinian welterweight champion was asked a peculiar question. We know that Muhammad didn’t want to fight Islam Makhachev because of their close-knit relationship. However, the soon-to-be former lightweight champion made a move to the welterweight category to challenge Jack Della Maddalena, after he defeated Muhammad at UFC 315. So the question was, who does Muhammad want to fight next? Will it be in his current weight class or a different one? 

Well, his reply was exactly what we expected. He wasted no time in calling Kamaru Usman out. He said, “My only intention now is to punch Kamaru Usman in the face. That’s who I want next. That’s all I’m looking for. Kamaru Usman, next. That’s it!” While this was the fight that the fighting community seemed to want, they didn’t really think of ‘Remember The Name’ as a possible victor. 

Soon after Muhammad declared his intentions towards Usman during the QnA session in Baku, Red Corner MMA shared the footage with their Instagram audience. And as expected, fight fans took over the comments section to reveal their thoughts. Let’s see what they had to say, shall we?

Fans break down the possible bout between Belal Muhammad and Kamaru Usman as excitement takes over MMA world

Needless to say, the friction between Muhammad and Usman has been keeping the fighting community on the edge. Right now, it seems like a bout between the duo might be inevitable. One fan weighed in on this and wrote, “2 former champs with similar style that don’t like each other am totally down to watch this fight 100%.” Another fan added, “Belal and Usman already had a build up at p4p. This fight makes sense at a 1000%.” 

So, who do the fans support in the highly possible matchup? After beating ‘New Mansa’ at UFC Atlanta, Usman has seemingly won the fans’ faith. One fan compared the matchup with UFC 268, where ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ dominated the bout against Colby Covington and defended his belt for the 5th consecutive time. The comment read, “The fight would be like Colby and Usman and from what I’ve seen recently Usman pieces bro up.” The calls kept rising against Muhammad. One fan commented, “You can talk all you want, Kamaru no send your papa.” Another fan added, “Usman by whatever he wants to do 😂.”

Meanwhile, many others reminded the Palestinian of his bout against the current welterweight champion. One fan wrote, “Dude still talks too much, even after his lip got split🤦🏿‍♂️.” A few others reflected back on the time when Muhammad promised to beat JDM on his feet. He claimed that he had hands like those of Canelo Alvarez. But in the end, he was left battered by Della Maddalena. One fan weighed in and wrote, “You gotta learn how to punch first.” Another comment read, “Just like he did to JDM right? Yeah Belal go ahead and shut the fk up 😂.”

The unreleased Pound4Pound episode is still a big topic of conversation. Muhammad alleges he made Usman “cry,” and Usman labels it a “regrettable scuffle.” If the UFC decides to release it, additional footage may come out. Usman is now looking to fight either the new welterweight champion (Jack Della Maddalena) or the champion who became a lightweight (Islam Makhachev). This has led Muhammad and many experts to see Muhammad-Usman as a natural contender fight.

But what do YOU think of the matchup between Kamaru Usman and Belal Muhammad? Do you think Usman can retain his winning streak? Let’s take to the debate section and keep the conversation flowing.