Two friends and brothers-in-arms in the UFC are enjoying their positions as champions in their respective divisions, separated by a weight class. In the lightweight category sits Islam Makhachev, who harbors a dream of becoming a dual weight champion, while his friend Belal Muhammad sits on the welterweight throne. Now, Makhachev’s goal of moving up a weight class is all well and good, but ‘Remember the Name’ is sitting at the top there.

The lightweight champion has set his sights on the 170 lbs division. So, the Palestinian-American wants to vacate his belt and go to 185 lbs, just so that he does not have to fight his friend. He spoke about the same to Barstool Chicago recently. “I would never fight Islam because that’s different for both me and him,” said Muhammad: “We’ve trained together and when you’re sweating with somebody, bleeding with somebody, and training like that, it’s just a different relationship.”

It’s not about the money, either for him or Makhachev. Since Muhammad trained with Team Khabib before UFC 311, his loyalty lies with them. He said, “It wouldn’t be about the money for me or him either, I assume, so I would never want to do that, and they’ve helped me so much… So, for me, I would rather go up to 185lbs and let him just take 170lbs if that is the case.”

He echoed the same during his interview on Full Send Podcast as well which was picked up by Reddit user,  @LatterTarget7 who quoted, “Belal Muhammad says he’d move up to 185 before fighting Islam Makhachev: “The loyalty means more than anything, I’d move up before fighting Islam If I get two wins, two title defences I can start looking to move up. When I’m looking at 185, I think it’s an easy division for myself.”

Now Muhammad plans to vacate the welterweight title and go up to 185 lbs, challenging the likes of Khamzat Chimaev and Dricus du Plessis. The rivalry between Chimaev and Muhammad has started, right before the latter’s title defense at UFC 315. “bullyb170 where are you going pony?” he wrote in Russian alongside the image on X. “Goin to middleweight,” Muhammad replied, with a picture of him wearing a ‘Muhammad vs Chimaev’ T-shirt.

The welterweight champ mentioned that he is only two fights away from challenging DDP. But Joaquin Buckley does not think that is going to be an easy road.

Joaquin Buckley warned Belal Muhammad against his 185 lbs plan

‘New Mansa’ decided to double down on this latest plan from Muhammad on his YouTube channel. He said, “Belal Muhammad talking about he wants to move up, he could be double champ. Belal, I’m just going to warn you right now: You don’t have the tools or the weapons to beat a person like Dricus. You’re not going to be able to take Buddy down. I’m just being honest with you, bro. You’re not going to be able to take buddy down, nor will you be able to knock him out with them pillow hands.”

He pointed out the loopholes in the welterweight champ’s skill set. DDP is not an easy opponent with his explosive and whimsical fighting style. Muhammad has a grappling-heavy approach, which might not work too well on Du Plessis, given the latter’s unpredictability. Furthermore, Du Plessis himself has underrated grappling skills. ‘Stillknocks’ would be the one to top ‘Remember the Name’, as per Buckley.

Nevertheless, Muhammad has viable options at middleweight, especially if he beats Della Maddalena. So what awaits Belal Muhammad? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.