Newly crowned UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad, after a year of hard work and self-promotion, caught the attention of UFC head honcho Dana White. His title shot materialized last month at UFC 304, wherein Muhammad defeated the reigning champion, Leon Edwards. Muhammad was confident he would dominate the division for a while, relishing his new status as the champion. Yet, his happiness was short-lived when undefeated Kazakh sensation Shavkat Rakhmonov set his sights on the title shot and demanded a fight as soon as possible.

The Kazakh sensation has already started throwing verbal jabs on social media, recently targeting Belal Muhammad in an X post where he brutally questioned Muhammad’s champion status. He wrote, “18 fighters before you tried, and I finished them all. Meanwhile, in 18 UFC fights, you’ve only finished 3 opponents. The UFC belt doesn’t give you superpowers, brother, it just seems to have made you delusional.”

In an interview, Shavkat Rakhmonov also called out Belal Muhammad’s promises he made after he won the welterweight title at UFC 304. While Muhammad had vowed to stay active and defend his belt frequently, due to scheduling conflicts, Muhmmad recently turned down a fight against Rakhmonov. Rakhmonov further clarified that the UFC wanted Muhammad to defend his title at UFC 307, but Muhammad declined. The very same UFC 307 main event that is now being headlined by Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.

And this isn’t the only time Shavkat Rakhmonov has targeted Belal Muhammad’s activity level.

Shavkat Rakhmonov exposes Belal Muhammad

Since his debut in the UFC, Shavkat Rakhmonov has maintained a winning streak from his previous MMA adventures, where he never lost a fight. This success has continued in the UFC, where he has defeated opponents like Stephen Thompson and Geoff Neal. However, missing out on a title opportunity has made him eager for his shot. The Kazakh sensation has not fought since December of last year and is keenly waiting for a title fight against the champion.

Frustrated by Muhammad’s recent decision to turn down a title fight, Rakhmonov has intensified his verbal jabs at the Palestinian descendant. In a recent Twitter post, Rakhmonov criticized Muhammad’s absence from the octagon for the past 14 months, paralleling his own wait for a title shot. Rakhmonov highlighted this by tweeting, “Do you have a case of selective memory, or did you just forget that you didn’t fight for 14 months before challenging for the belt? 🤫”

As the fight is not currently scheduled, in a hypothetical situation where it does happen, who would you root for: Belal Muhammad or Shavkat Rakhmonov? Drop your preference below.