The aftermath of UFC 304 has given rise to some exciting and interesting new stories in the sport of MMA. Hence, with an aim to bring you the most noteworthy headlines of the last 24 hours, here’s another daily roundup. To kick off this compilation, we have the news of a few UFC pros like Dan Ige, Kamaru Usman, and Islam Makhachev questioning a controversial moment from the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Thereafter, we will shift our focus to the news of Belal Muhammad, who seemed to have called out the 185-pound champion after he became the UFC welterweight champion. Finally, we’ll end with another piece of news about the new welterweight champion showing a willingness to fight an undefeated star.

Islam Makhachev and others take issue with controversial moment from the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony

Recently, the sporting world appeared stunned after what went down in Paris during the opening ceremony of this year’s Olympics. The ceremonial show received tons and tons of backlash for presenting an apparent parody, which was an adaption of Leonardo Di Vinci‘s famous ‘The Last Supper’ art piece. Lightweight champion Islam Makhchaev was disgusted with what he witnessed during that ceremony, claiming that the act was a “dark stain” in the 100-plus-year-old international sporting spectacle.

However, Makhachev wasn’t the only one because Dan Ige and former champion Kamaru Usman also appeared to question the parody performance as well. The former welterweight champion tweeted, “Wtf happened to the Olympics?” as the latter was taken aback, which was apparent with his “Ummmmm…??” reaction. What do you think about this controversial bit from the opening ceremony? But before you do that, have a look at this next story as well.

Belal Muhammad is open to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov

Shavkat Rakhmonov is one of the most feared contenders in the welterweight division. He showed his mettle last time out when he became the first fighter to tap out ‘Wonderboy’ Stephen Thompson. There have been speculations about the Kazakh fighter maybe getting his title shot soon, but would Belal Muhammad want to defend his title against ‘Nomad’? It seems like the new champion has welcomed any and all challenges put in front of him because now he’s got to prove his worth as the champion.

“Yeah, of course [I’ll fight Rakhmonov]… I’m the man and for me, now it’s cementing my legacy as the best welterweight to ever do it,” said Belal Muhammad during the post-fight press conference. That comment received its response as Shavkat Rakhmonov congratulated him on his win while hoping that Muhammad intends to “keep his word” about putting the title on the line against him.

Is Belal Muhammad aiming for ‘double champ’ status?

Ever since Conor McGregor became the first fighter to become a double champion, several others have been inspired to go down the same route and achieve multi-divisional accolades in the world’s biggest MMA promotion. The latest among the bunch seems to be the new welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad. When asked about if he had a probable quest to become ‘champ champ’, ‘Remember the Name’ hinted that he might fight Dricus du Plessis if he retains his title in the blood-feud fight against Israel Adesanya.

“If Dricus still has the title [and] if] he beats Adesanya. He was trying to talk tough to me. I’ll go smack him around [and] try to get two belts,” said Belal Muhammad at the post-fight presser. Will this happen? Probably not so soon because Muhammad has just won his 170lb strap, and maybe someone like Shavkat Rakhmonov would get their hands at ‘Remember the Name’ next.