Beral Muhammad believes it’s time for him and Kamal Usman to resolve the score.
The longtime rival could be ready for a fight in the near future, with Muhammad losing Jack Della Maddalena’s welterweight title at UFC 315, and USMAN won the victory over Joaquin Buckley at UFC Atlanta on Saturday.
Usman then told reporters he hopes Della Maddalena will fight for the title after defending former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, and dismissed the possibility of Muhammad’s grim match. Muhammad responds on social media and refers to allegations of conflict over Usman 4 pounds The podcast remains unpublished for now.
Muhammad revealed on his YouTube channel that he would welcome the fight against Usman.
“What I was looking at, what I wanted, I wanted him to get on the microphone and call out to me,” Muhammad said. “I think that’s the next thing that makes sense. It’s the only battle that makes sense. If we’re talking about divisions, we have history. We’re going back and forth. It’s a clear No. 1 competitor battle.
“So, let’s do it. I think I’m ready to choose a date, a time, a place, and I think I’m ready. Watching this fight, you’re not going to take me that way. I think it’s going to look like a fifth round. I was waiting for it, so I was hoping for it, and hopefully the UFC will make it.”
Muhammad’s defeat to Maddalena snapped a six-year unbeaten streak for “Remember the Name.” The road back to his title shot for just a few weeks after his 37th birthday is vague, but I am sure he should bring 38-year-old Usman.
Although Muhammad predicts he will take control of Usman in the fifth round, he is still impressed by the rival’s comeback performance against Buckley.
“My first reaction was that Usman still left juice in the tank,” Muhammad said. “Big fight for him, three losses in a row. People were asking all the questions to the world about him. Does he still have it? Does he still have a knee? He went out there and proved that he still has it.