Belal Muhammad already has the nickname, but “The Bully” wants to add to his moniker by showing off one of his most underrated skills when he plays against Jacques de La Maddarena in the UFC 315 main event.
Most notable for his relentless pressure, never finishing cardio and conditioning, the real-life welterweight champion has been tirelessly working hard to add new weapons to Arsenal. Muhammad admits that there is no ranking of the tools he is trying to showcase in his first title defense, but showing off his hands will likely sit at the top of that list.
“I’ve used a lot of my hands myself, especially those last few fights,” Muhammad told MMA Fighting. “I use Canelo (Alvarez) boxing. I want to put it on the test. I want to put it on the test. I have that moment, so I’m the best boxer in the UFC. So I’m the best boxer in welterweight.
“All of these people are continuing to hate them. They’re going to wonder how we continue to do that. But we’re just continuing to grow and we’re getting better.”
Of course, Muhammad has promoted his batting in the past and compared his boxing to multi-time champion Canelo Alvarez, but those declarations are usually met by politics from fans.
That doesn’t bother Muhammad much, especially since part of his job as a top welterweight in the UFC is to ensure that certain opponents have what they could throw at him.
In his upcoming battle, Della Madarena is a documented knockout artist with serious power in both hands, whose style may avoid most enemies avoiding many encounters with him on their feet.
While Muhammad is aware and acknowledged the Della Madrena match and promises not to show any fear in these interactions, he cannot say the same thing about his opponents when it comes to all the other aspects surrounding this fight.
“Whenever you enter a fight, you obviously look at your opponent’s weaknesses,” explained Muhammad. “I try to manage it and develop a strategy towards it, so for me I was able to beat him in many different ways. I could overtake him if I wanted to. I could drive him out if I wanted to.
“He’s not going to last for me. He’s not going to surpass me. He’s not going to overtake me. He’s not going to overtake me. So I’m always trying to be the best version of myself. I don’t really like to focus on him. I’m doing it.”
When Muhammad was originally preparing for his first title defense, he was preparing to face the undefeated candidate against Shabkat Rakhmonov, the undefeated candidate who was actually a loser.
Unfortunately, Rakmonov suffered an injury and prevented him from fighting as early as possible, so he was replaced by Della Madarena, and Muhammad’s odds shifted against his new opponent.
He now likes to win, but Muhammad says his mission will always remain the same whether his opponent is Rakmonov or Della Madalena.
“For me, I rarely see the odds,” Muhammad said. “I like to be constantly tempered and then focused on the tasks at hand. There are always people like, ‘This is a tough fight or an easy fight, or you can do this’, but all fighters are different. All battles are different. Jack has been out for over a year. He’s working on things.
“I’m just excited to go there and fight. Especially when I couldn’t do that fight in December, I’m on another level. I went out for six weeks. It rejuvenated me, in my way.
To end Della Maddalena at UFC 315, Muhammad is all set to prepare, but by ensuring that this fight is finished with a knockout, it could lead to that new nickname.
“100% (that means more),” Muhammad said. “And for me, after finishing with a knockout, you can change the name to Canelo Boxing, Canelo’s hand.”