Belal Muhammad faced severe backlash from the MMA community for pulling out of his fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov. It would indeed have been his first-ever title defense. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help it as he faced a serious injury. A foot infection put him out of commission and jeopardized the welterweight title picture. Now more information has come to light suggesting that the injury was worse than anticipated. Even though ‘Bully B’ has jumped back on track and resumed his training, there was a time when amputation was an option for the champ.

The UFC welterweight champion was spotted on the red carpet of the 16th annual World MMA Awards in Las Vegas. Taking up the chance, MMA Junkie’s Nolan King interviewed the UFC star. Therein, he announced that he was getting back to the gym and seemed pretty excited to get back into the action. But did that mean he was all good to go?

Belal replied, “Yeah. So, I’m cleared and good to go. But now, it’s like getting back to where I was. Literally I did like 50 push-ups and I felt like I was in a war and I got hit by a truck. I’m like, ‘Bro, this how it feels to not be in shape? It’s crazy.’” He revealed that he had to be hospitalized for 3 weeks. Antibiotics were administered to him via a PICC line for 6 weeks. 

But there was more to the story. Muhammad continued, “It got to the point where I was like, ‘Bro, what if you get rid of the toe? What do I need to do to get back in there as quickly as possible? What’s possible?’ But like, the way the doctor was saying, he was like, it was like a bone infection. So it wasn’t like, people are like, ‘Oh, you got a broken toe.’ I’m like, ‘Bro, if it was a toe, I don’t… I had a broken toe for over a year and then that toe got infected because of that. So that it went directly into the bone, and it was climbing up the foot.’ So he’s like, ‘Bro, get your foot amputated.’ For me it was heartbreaking, obviously.”

Getting prohibited from moving around for 6 weeks with a PICC line sticking out of an arm is something that no athlete would be happy with. But that didn’t stop ‘Remember The Name’ from analyzing the matchup between Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Garry. Let’s see what the welterweight champion has to say about the fight that’d decide his next probable opponent, shall we?

Belal Muhammad weighs in on UFC 310 co-main event while in the hospital

Following his withdrawal from the fight, Garry swooped in on short notice to replace Muhammad at UFC 310. Being unable to move and prescribed with bed rest, ‘Bully B’ had ample time to go through the fighting styles of Garry and Rakhmonov. Taking to social media he announced, “These last six weeks I’ve been watching a lot of tapes and studying both these guys and my official unbiased breakdown is that I break both of them.”

But when it came to the matchup between the Irishman and ‘Nomad’, Muhammad believed that it couldn’t have been better. Talking to Jon Anik and Kenny Florian on their YouTube talk show, the Palestinian champion said, “I think Shavkat and Ian Garry, both undefeated, both guys are right there at the top and they both called each other out before Ian said he wanted that fight before, but it makes a lot of sense and I’m excited to see how it goes.”

Needless to say, the co-main event for UFC 310 would be nothing short of exciting. Rakhmonov and Garry both have an equal chance of winning. But if ‘Nomad’ loses his fight, he’d also lose the chance to fight Muhammad for the welterweight championship belt, along with his position as the #1 welterweight contender. 

Do you think we can get to witness Muhammad’s first title defense in 2025? Who would it be against? Will it be Ian Garry or Shavkat Rakhmonov? UFC 310 will provide us with the answer to this burning question. Nevertheless, let us know your thoughts on Belal’s revelations.