Alex Pereira is on another level of stardom right now in the UFC, being the most active champion in the promotion. He has had three successful title defenses in a single year (2024), joining the elite list, including four other legendary fighters like Matt Hughes and Chuck Liddell, who’ve registered the same record. Pereira’s UFC run seems to have inspired fellow champion Belal Muhammad, who plans to follow in his footsteps.

After a dominant win over Leon Edwards, Muhammad will get his first dose of entering the Octagon as a defending champion when he takes on Shavkat Rakhmonov to close the UFC PPV calendar year at UFC 310. But he’s already planning ahead. Looking at how active and successful Alex Pereira has been, ‘Remember the Name’ wants the same for himself when we cross 31st December in a couple of months.

“For myself, it’s obviously the task at hand what’s next [Shavkat Rakhmonov], and then for 2025, I’m trying to get on that Alex Pereira schedule. If it wasn’t for him, I’d probably be on that ‘Fighter of the Year’ ballot,” Belal Muhammad told ‘Grind City Media’.

Talking about Pereira, the man has re-injected some excitement into the light-heavyweight division. His constant knockout wins have created this hunger among fans either to see him knock out another person or to see who gets that all-important upset win over ‘Poatan’. Could Belal Muhammad do the same? Well, he does have the aim to keep the welterweight division’s momentum going.

Belal Muhammad’s plan to keep himself and the division “busy”

It’d be naive not to mention that Belal Muhammad could more or less find it harder to generate the kind of excitement Alex Pereira does. ‘Poatan’ has been finishing all of his opponents of late, which isn’t something Muhammad is normally known for. In fact, the 36-year-old has been criticized for his grappling heavy fighting style. There were even speculations that Dana White wasn’t happy with it either. However, what the welterweight champion has planned is to help keep new contenders coming one after the other by getting busy and available, just like the light heavyweight champion.

“Next year for myself is like staying busy. I think after Shavkat, some of these other guys have to fight each other… now that I’m busy, it’s gonna make them wanna get busier. And I think we’re gonna see who’s the next one up. I’m excited to see it,” Belal Muhammad added. It’s a tough ask for someone to replicate another’s success, but seeing how Belal Muhammad manhandled Leon Edwards for the most part, anything can happen in MMA. But do you think Dana White will consider his proposal?

The majority of the fans, despite Belal Muhammad’s UFC 304 performance, believe UFC 310 will witness the crowning of a new champion. Is the reigning champion downplaying the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov? Let us know in the comments down below.