UFC Welterweight Champion Belal Muhammad might just get his wish granted by Dana White! The Chicago native, who was recently honored with a day in his hometown—September 20 will be known as the Belal Muhammad Day henceforth—has publicly expressed his desire for a UFC event to be held in his city.

His request came after the UFC 307 post-fight presser, where Alex Pereira retained his UFC light heavyweight crown against Khalil Rountree Jr, when Dana White confirmed plans to expand the UFC’s reach beyond the staple locations of Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. “We are talking now, we’re gonna start hitting some of these places that we haven’t hit in a while. Uh, pre-Covid. We are looking at like Seattle right now. Going back to Chicago and so many other places like that. That will be coming up in ’25,” the UFC president said, addressing the topic. 

Notably, the last time the promotion halted at ‘Windy City’ was back on June 8, 2019, for the UFC 238 fight which Henry Cejudo won over Marlon Moraes. However, even though White had promised they would return to the event “100 percent” that year, things have been quite the opposite, owing to the pandemic. Then again in 2021, he had promised the same. Speaking to reporters at the UFC 263 post-fight press conference in Phoenix, the promotion’s CEO had said: “I love coming to Chicago. As soon as Chicago opens up — is Chicago 100% (opened up) yet? In 15 days? Well, that seems to be the story around the country. So if these places really open up — some are saying they are, but they’re not, it’s not what I’m looking for exactly yet — we will start going to these cities. And I love the city of Chicago and the food. So yes.”

 Truth be told, this does put a question mark on how soon fans can expect a showdown in the city. However, Muhammad’s ears were perked, as he has been quite vocal about his desire to fight in front of his home crowd. “So when’s UFC coming back to Chicago?” the current Welterweight Champion questioned. For the unversed, the 36-year-old became the first fighter of Palestinian origin to win an UFC title after defeating defending champion Leon Edwards (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) at the UFC 304 bout on July 27 this year. 

After his win, his city had welcomed him with open arms, and even organized a parade to celebrate the iconic achievement. “It felt great man to have my own parade…Chicago hasn’t had a champion in a while, so for us to bring the belt back home and get gold in Chicago, it feels good,” he had said at the time. Hence, it’s understandable why taking a fight to his hometown would be of paramount importance. And imagine, if the event can be scheduled for September 20 next year with Muhammad heading it…Now that’s what would make it a day to remember!

With White spilling beans on the UFC’s future destination plans, will Muhammad finally get his wish and defend his title on his home soil? Only time will tell, but what is more interesting is who will he face? Let us shed light on the prospects for the Welterweight gold. 

Belal Muhammad states his choice of possible title contenders 

Belal Muhammad believes that Shavkat Rakhmonov and Kamaru Usman should ‘flip a coin’ to decide who would face him next. ‘Bully B’ evidently shocked the MMA world at UFC 304. Hence, his dominant outing has given rise to significant buzz over his next potential title contenders. 

He believes that the dominant Kazakh native is one of the top contenders in the division owing to his undefeated record. In addition to this, Rakhmonov has earned the distinction of finishing all 18 of his professional MMA fights, making him one of the top challengers for the UFC gold. Talking about ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’, Muhammad credited Usman as one of the best to enter the octagon.

“Yeah, honestly that [Shavkat Rakhmonov] would be a perfect matchup… I’m thinking of Shavkat and [Kamaru] Usman, they’re both in the same gym. Usman has the legacy, right? He was the guy that Dana White says is better than GSP [former champ and GOAT contender Georges St-Pierre],” Muhammad told Brendan Schaub and Bryan Callen on their podcast.

So who do you think the new champion might fight to defend his belt? Will it be in Chicago as he wishes? Tell us in the comments below.