Written by Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Belal Muhammad already has a nickname but “The Bully” wants to add onto his monikers by showing off one of his most underrated skills when he faces Jack Della Maddalena in the UFC 315 main event.
Best known for his relentless pressure and never ending cardio and conditioning, the reigning welterweight champion has worked tirelessly on constantly adding new weapons to his arsenal. While there’s no ranking of the tools he’s looking to showcase in his first title defense, Muhammad admits that showing off his hands would probably sit at the top of that list.
“For myself, especially these last couple of fights, I’ve been using my hands a lot,” Muhammad told MMA Fighting. “I’ve been using the Canelo [Alvarez] boxing. I want to put it to the test. I want to put it to the test and have that moment where I go that’s why I’m the best boxer in the UFC. That’s why I’m the best boxer in the welterweight division.
“All these people are going to keep hating, they’re going to keep wondering how we keep doing it. But we just keep growing and we keep getting better.”
Of course, Muhammad has touted his striking in the past and compared his boxing to multi-time champion Canelo Alvarez but those declarations have usually been met by derision from fans.
None of that bothers Muhammad much, especially because part of his job as the UFC’s top welterweight is ensuring that he’s ready for whatever any given opponent might throw at him.
In his upcoming fight, Della Maddalena is a documented knockout artist with serious power in both hands and that style might make most opponents avoid many encounters with him on the feet.
Muhammad recognizes and acknowledges that about Della Maddalena’s game and he promises he’ll show no fear in those exchanges but he can’t say the same about his opponent when it comes to just about every other aspect surrounding this fight.
“Whenever you go into a fight, you obviously look up the opponent’s weaknesses,” Muhammad explained. “I try to manage that and strategize towards that. So for me, I could beat him in many different ways. I could outstrike him if I want to. I could out kickbox him if I want to or I could outwrestle him if I want to. I know I have all these different paths to victory. For him, he can only win one way. One specific way and that would be by knockout.
“He’s not going to outlast me. He’s not going to outwork me. He’s not going to outmuscle me. He’s not going to outgrapple me. So that’s why I always strive to be the best version of myself. I don’t really like to focus on him, more so I like to [think] what did we do last fight? Let’s grow on that. Let’s get better at that and let’s just show a different version of ourselves. So for this fight, that’s what I plan on doing.”
When Muhammad was originally preparing for his first title defense he was preparing for a matchup against undefeated contender Shavkat Rakkhmonov where he was actually the underdog.
Unfortunately, Rakhmonov suffered an injury that prevented him from fighting as early as May so he was replaced by Della Maddalena and Muhammad’s odds shifted with the new opponent.
He’s now favored to win but Muhammad says whether his opponent was Rakhmonov or Della Maddalena, his mission always stays the same.
“For me, I rarely look at the odds,” Muhammad said. “I always like to be even tempered and then just focus on the task at hand. There’s always going to be people who are like ‘this is a hard fight or an easy fight or you could just do this’ but every fighter is different. Every fight’s different. For Jack, he’s been out over a year, I’m sure he’s been working on stuff. He’s going to be a different version of himself. But I’m the best version of myself I’ve ever been. I’m the best I’ve ever felt.
“The excitement that I have just to go out there and fight, I’m on another level, especially that time off when I couldn’t take that fight in December and I was out for six weeks, it just rejuvenated me. It made me remember and feel that feeling beforehand of the hunger that I had to be here. The hunger that I had to chase this dream. The hunger that I had to get this title. We’re never satisfied so I’m always looking at the next goal, always looking at the next obstacle and Jack’s in my way. So I’ve got to end him.”
To end Della Maddalena at UFC 315, Muhammad is staying ready for everything but admittedly finishing this fight by knockout might lead to that new nickname.
“100 percent [that would mean more],” Muhammad said. “And then for me, I can just change my name to Canelo boxing, Canelo hands after I finish by knockout.”