The newly crowned UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad made history a few weeks ago by becoming the first fighter of Palestinian origin to win a UFC title. He achieved this by dethroning Leon Edwards at UFC 304 in Manchester, England. Muhammad has now extended his winning streak to six fights and dedicated his victory to Palestine. Although Muhammad was neither born nor raised in Palestine, he has always been very vocal about their rights.

Now, in support of Palestine, Belal Muhammad has received backing from former UFC light heavyweight champion Israel Adesanya. Adesanya, who recently appeared in an interview with The Mac Life to promote his upcoming title fight against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305, praised Muhammad for his support of Palestine. Adesanya later shared a clip on X with the caption, “Hi… My name is Israel and I approve this message. 👍🏾,” which caught the attention of Muhammad, who responded on X with, “Appreciate you champ.”

Belal Muhammad, one of four siblings, was born to Palestinian immigrants who settled in Chicago. Deeply proud of his Palestinian heritage, a sentiment shared by the Palestinian community, Muhammad’s victory over Leon Edwards sparked celebrations in Bridgeview, known as “Little Palestine.” Yet, this joy was tempered by the tragic airstrike that killed civilians in a mosque and school that same week.

Nevertheless, Belal Muhammad is not the only one openly supporting Palestine during these difficult times. UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is also a vocal supporter, demonstrating his solidarity after defending his title against Alexa

When Islam Makhachev refused to celebrate his win

Russian Muslim MMA fighter Islam Makhachev defended his title against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in a rematch at UFC 294 last September. He stunned everyone with a head kick that put Volkanovski to sleep. Despite this impressive victory, Makhachev chose not to celebrate. Instead, he made a silent gesture and dedicated his win to Palestine.

In his remark, he stated, “I’m not celebrating the win today, because crazy things are happening around the world. Palestine we stand up with you. Stop this! Stop this!,” referring to the Israeli bombing campaign of Gaza.” Islam Makhachev further reiterated this sentiment after defending his title for the third time against former interim champion Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 in May. Additionally, Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was in Makhachev’s corner, engaged in a conversation with Donald Trump. During this interaction, Nurmagomedov stated, “I know you will stop the war in Palestine.” In response, Donald Trump said, “We will stop it. I will stop the war.”

As Belal Muhammad and Islam Makhachev have now received support from Israel Adesanya for Palestine, it will be intriguing to see if they back Adesanya in his upcoming fight against Dricus Du Plessis on August 17th at UFC 305 in Australia, where Adesanya will attempt to reclaim the middleweight belt for the second time. Stay tuned for further updates.