Belal Muhammad is the new welterweight champion of the UFC. ‘Remember The Name’ indeed made sure no one will forget his name after he defeated Leon Edwards convincingly on UFC 304; shocking ‘Rocky’ not only with his strength and grappling but also on the feet!

And to prepare for the fight, ‘Bully B’ has been in Dagestan training with Khabib and Co. Despite his brilliant victory, Muhammad has been charged with using steroids. Some fans found it suspicious how in shape he was, as he appeared strong and durable in the bout. However, there may be a good reason for how brilliant Muhammad was tonight, which he shared with Joe Rogan in an interview last year.

Joe Rogan struck by Belal Muhammad’s description of Dagestan training methods

Belal Muhammad, on Joe Rogan’s podcast, had declared, that based upon the time he has spent with them, the Dagestani training was the biggest reason they are such great fighters. ‘Bully B’ recounted in detail his first time grappling with Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, and their cohorts, and what a culture shock it was because of the intensity of training. He frankly admitted that so good and strong were the Dagestanis that he had trouble with even the new guys.

“If you never train with the guys from Dagestan, you don’t know what it feels like. It’s not, it’s not regular Jiu Jitsu, like it’s like quicksand…I’m really good at flow rolling and I’m training with them in my last camp and I’m like ‘I cannot move with these guys.’ None of them,” he said, via JRE Explosion.

So startled was Muhammad at the shocking difference between him and the Dagestanis that he was forced to realize he needed “to change what I do in Chicago.” The results of which were explicit on UFC 304. Muhammad, long accused of being a ‘boring’ fighter by fans, put on a scintillating performance to win the title and many fans’ hearts.

Rogan, ever the diligent student of the fight game, wondered why the Dagestanis were so willing to work hard. To which Muhammad, without any hesitation, replied: “The mentality.” The Palestinian revealed that those guys didn’t mess around. Ever. All their training sessions had one purpose: win. Win not only the session overall but every minute of every round. So much so that Khabib once got mad at him for not taking the sparring session as seriously, and not trying to win.

“So I’m trying to play like, guard, trying to go for arm bar. And then Khabib’s just like ‘get up, we’re not playing Jiu Jitsu. This is MMA. You’re on your back, you’re losing.’ And their mentality is let me hold you down because I’m not gonna lose this round,” ‘Remember the Name’ recounted to Rogan.

The podcast host was curious whether the rumors about the Dagestanis’ legendary discipline, even in terms of the clothes a fighter can wear and the hairstyle they have were true. “They have a very, very disciplined camp, right? Like you, you have to have your hair cut a certain way, like you can’t be showing up with blue mohawks or nothing crazy. Like very disciplined, right?” Rogan asked. To which Muhammad gave the answer that will surprise no one.

‘Bully B’ describes how Dagestan training is different from American

Muhammad confirmed that all the stories of their discipline were indeed true, and felt that there was another factor behind why the Dagestanis were such good fighters. Their actual training methods also differed significantly from those practiced in America, which is credited with making them as tough and strong as they were.

“Yeah, I think that’s one of the, the reasons why they’re all successful… It’s a different type of sparring too, where normally for us we have a sparring day in Chicago…whereas for them, they’re doing everything every day. It’s small glove sparring every day, then right after that you’re taking off the gloves and you’re grappling every day. Then right after that you’re going into cage and you’re wrestling on the cage every single day,” he said.

It is no wonder that Khabib Nurmagomedov is perhaps the most dominant fighter in UFC history, and Islam Makhachev, his successor looks unstoppable. Even Muhammad’s limited training with the Dagestani camp prior to his UFC title clash seems to have worked like magic. What are your thoughts on Belal Muhammad’s UFC 304 victory?