Who will next get a title shot in the UFC’s welterweight division? Belal Muhammad surprised the crowd at UFC 304 by defeating Leon Edwards. And he was quick to think about who his first title defense should be against. He called out former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and Shavkat Rakhmonov.

And it makes complete sense. Usman and Shavkat Rakhmonov rank #2 and #3 in the division and seeing either of them go against the champion would be an interesting fight. It would give Usman an opportunity to become the champion once again or give Rakhmonov the chance to become the new king. However, if you ask Rakhmonov, he isn’t letting his chances to contend get away even if it means taking digs at his competitor! His statement will surely make you rethink Usman’s chances of a title fight.

“18-0 with 100% finishes or 0-3 in the last three fights. I think there should be no question who fights next for the title,” he wrote on X, while advocating for himself. The 29-year-old has a spotless MMA record with 18 wins. On the other hand, Usman is coming off three back-to-back losses— twice against Leon Edward and once against Khamzat Chimaev. 2022 and 2023 have been bad for him and he is yet to fight this year.

However, before his doom, let us not forget that he was on a long winning streak and absolutely dominated the division. He became the UFC WW champion in 2019 by defeating Tyron Woodley and continued to defend the championship belt successfully for the next five fights. But Rocky’s powerful kick at UFC 278 ended his reign.

On the other hand, ‘Nomad’ is on an undefeated run. Out of his 18 wins, 10 have come via submissions, and the rest 8 by KO/TKO. Needless to say, the Kazakhstani fighter is quite a finisher. Weighing in on the records and history inside the Octagon, Rakhmonov seemed pretty confident that he would be the one who would get a chance to fight for the welterweight gold.

Even Muhammad’s boxing coach Horacio Gutierrez seemed to throw his weight behind Rakhmonov, while mentioning Usman’s dismal performances recently. “I think they’re gonna give us [Rakhmonov] because he’s undefeated and he has all finishes and stuff like that…I don’t see no one else…Usman has three lose streak…so I think it’s going to be the Russian and I’m really excited to to get him ready for that one from a striking or a boxing perspective,” he said in a recent conversation.

However, when it comes to ‘Bully B’, a mere title defense is not the only thing on his mind. “There’s not really that guy where you’re like, ‘Oh, he beat a No.1 contender’. None of these guys beat a No.1 contender like I beat a No.1 contender. When I beat [Vicente] Luque, he was on a seven-fight winning streak. When I beat Gilbert Burns, he was on a two-fight winning streak. He was the No. 1 contender. He was right there.”

“Sean Brady was 15-0 when I beat him. All these guys had big wins, huge wins, but it tells me I got like maybe two fights and now I can start talking about double-champ status because I already beat all these guys in the Top 10,” he shared on August 7. It looks like several champions want to move to other divisions to show their prowess. This includes Islam Makhachev, Ilia Topuria, and Alex Pereira.

But coming back to the matter at hand, Kamaru Usman has already started training. Though he doesn’t have a fight scheduled, he will leave no stone unturned to become the champion once again! His matchup against Muhammad was even backed by the former heavyweight champ, Daniel Cormier.

Daniel Cormier weighs in on Usman vs. Muhammad

Not too long ago, Usman dissed ‘Remember The Name’ and gave rise to a new rivalry. Or was it the other way around? Usman had taken to X to call US MMA fighter, but he instead called the Usman the past. The newfound rivalry excited the entire fighting community, and Cormier was one of them.

DC, on his YouTube channel, commended Muhammad for his confidence. He said, “I’m all for it…I like it. I like that confidence. I like that newfound swagger that he’s trying to show now. He’s the man. Kamaru’s the man. He always has been, and if he gets an opportunity, he’s going to fight his a*s off to try to become the champ again.” 

Kamaru Usman has even begun training, and those videos are going viral on the internet. But Muhammad has kept on bashing the Nigerian fighter. He has claimed that Usman would need more than just a gear-up to fight him. Well, only time can tell what new weapons Usman has been developing in the gym.

And ‘The Nigeran Nightmare’ wouldn’t mind either. Earlier, he even named four people he hopes to fight—Shavkat Rakhmonov, Ian Machado Garry, Jack Della Maddalena, or Belal Muhammad.

Who do you think will get the chance to fight Belal Muhammad? Will it be Usman or Rakhmonov? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.