Before his UFC 304 title shot against Leon Edwards, there was only one place Belal Muhammad trusted to bring out the potential in him. It was about 5,960 miles away. It was Dagestan. So the man packed his bags, flew across the ocean to “do a lot of specific drilling” with Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s team, and ultimately, all the hard work paid off after he became the welterweight champion. But perhaps that also brought a lot more eyes to his new throne. One of them was Nurmagomedov’s protege, Islam Makhachev, a person ‘Bully B’ considers his brother.

Makhachev has his own reasons, too. “I don’t see a lot of work to do in my division, I beat almost everybody,” the lightweight champion stated in January. “I am thinking about moving up to 170, and I can stay there. I don’t want to make any statements.” For him, it’s about competition and a new challenge, but somehow avoiding ‘Remember The Name’ would be an ideal scenario.

Similarly, in February, Muhammad reiterated how he would never fight the Dagestani, and perhaps a move to the middleweight would help them both avoid a plot where they come face-to-face in the octagon, but at the same time, accomplish their dreams of dominating a second weight class. However, are there now cracks in this brotherhood?

You see, last month, rumors spread on social media that Muhammad unfollowed Nurmagomedov, Makhachev, and Umar Nurmagomedov, but it turned out to be baseless fabrications. However, such rumors have once again started circulating. For instance, ‘MMA Pack’ on Instagram claimed, “Belal Muhammad has unfollowed Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam & Umar,” and similarly, many social media accounts have spread this on the internet. But a quick check of the 36-year-old’s following list on Instagram showed he still follows the Dagestanis. He also follows them on X.

Additionally, Muhammad has had nothing but nice things to say about Team Khabib in all his interviews in the past. They have trained together multiple times, and Khabib Nurmagomedov even helped the Palestinian-American before his UFC 280 fight against Sean Brady.

The reigning welterweight king is scheduled to defend his title against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315, and rumors began to circulate that Makhachev might move to welterweight if Muhammad loses his belt in his first title defense. So Makhachev might capitalize on the opportunity if Muhammad faces defeat, and so, it looks like they might have an internal strategy that could work in their favor.

On the other hand, the Dagestani will continue his dominance in the lightweight division for now.

Khabib Nurmagomedov gives update on Islam Makhachev’s training for a possible fight!

The lightweight division is swarming with elite fighters who are waiting for a chance to get to Makhachev’s throne. From Ilia Topuria to Justin Gaethje, the lightweight champion has a long list of contenders. Javier Mendez and Ali Abdelaziz declared that the Russian juggernaut would most likely fight Justin Gaethje in his next bout. Khabib Nurmagomedov, on the other hand, focused on training his team.

The UFC Hall of Famer and undefeated former lightweight champ shared a carousel of training pictures from the Sildi village last month. He wrote in the caption, “Gathering high in the mountains in the village of Sildi has begun,” followed by a thumbs-up emoji. But all this training for Makhachev is against whom? Is he going to battle Ilia Topuria at UFC 317 as the viral fan-made posters indicate? Or will he go up against the aforementioned Gaethje?

The answer might be “no,” to fighting Topuria, because Makhachev had declared that he was tired of giving chances to featherweight fighters. He said while speaking to Match TV last year, “If I beat him [Topuria], what will that do for me? Everyone will once again say that I beat a featherweight, but if people want to see him lose, then we can do it.”

However, Makhachev does want a second belt, and the recent training in the Sildi mountains is the preparation for what’s to come. Do you think Makhachev can retain his dominance in his next fight? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.