Belal Muhammad: Beating Khamzat Chimaev is worth more than anybody ranked

Belal Muhammad has officially entered the upper echelon of the welterweight division, but there’s one fighter he’d love to face, regardless of rankings.

Unbeaten in his past seven fights, Muhammad (20-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) picked up the biggest win of his career when he dominated Stephen Thompson this past Saturday at UFC Fight Night 199.

With back-to-back lopsided decision wins over former title challengers Demian Maia and Thompson, Muhammad thinks he’s done enough for a title shot against reigning champ Kamaru Usman. But if he doesn’t get his wish, he wants to face Khamzat Chimaev (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC), who’s being dubbed as the most avoided fighter in the UFC.

“It makes sense for anybody in the division,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie in regards to fighting Chimaev. “He has the most hype in the division right now. He has that (Conor) McGregor X-factor stardom right now, where the fans think he’s untouchable. The boss thinks he’s untouchable. They all think it’s just a matter of time before he becomes champion. So for me, if I beat him, I steal all of his hype, and I think it’s worth more than beating anybody ranked in the division. Beating him is probably worth more than beating Colby Covington just because of all the hype he has right now.

“So in this game, it’s about momentum, it’s about hype, and it’s about who’s hot right now. He’s the hottest right now. So beating him, I steal all that shine. I steal all that heat, so why wouldn’t I? And stylistically-wise, I think I match up very well with him. He has a very similar style to Usman, so I beat him, I just show that I belong in there with a guy like Usman and I’m the next guy that should be fighting this fight.”

Prior to getting booked against “Wonderboy,” Muhammad revealed that he asked his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, for the Chimaev fight. In four UFC appearances, Chimaev has run through competition, most recently submitting Li Jingliang in the first round at UFC 267.

Muhammad agrees that the hype is warranted, to an extent, but thinks Chimaev is yet to be properly tested.

“Obviously he deserves some hype just because he got punched one time in four fights,” Muhammad said. “He beat my teammate, but even with that fight, anybody could get caught. It’s a fight. It’s four-ounce gloves, so you really didn’t get a true Gerald Meerschaert in there. You saw his last fight; Gerald Meerschaert got a submission win in the third round. This guy fights to the end. He just got caught in that fight, so I don’t really consider that a fight. He beat Li Jingliang, who has zero grappling at all. In the video game, he should be like a six in the attributes, grappling-wise. But I figured that’s what would happen, and he would look so dominantly just by taking him down and submitting him.

“But I mean, he’s obviously good. It’s not fake, It’s not like he’s going out there and just getting lucky punches all the time. He has really good grappling, really good ground game, and grappling is king in this sport. Wrestling is king in this sport, and those are the guys that become champions, guys with wrestling. So I think he is good, I just don’t think that he’s this untouchable boogieman, the candyman that nobody wants to say his name type of guy. I just fought a guy, ‘Wonderboy,’ who a lot of guys turn down. Nobody wants to fight this guy because his style so hard to figure out, his puzzle is so hard to figure out, and I said yes to it it easily without any hesitation at all.”

Chimaev accepted Muhammad’s callout on social media, but it’s yet to be seen if the UFC is on board with the matchup.

To see the full interview with Muhammad, check out the video below.