Ian Machado Garry thinks it’s a no-brainer that Belal Muhammad should get the next UFC welterweight title shot.
Unbeaten in his past 10 fights, most recently defeating former title challenger Gilbert Burns at UFC 288, Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) has been campaigning for a title shot but to no avail. Garry (14-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) took a big step toward the upper echelon of the division when he defeated Geoff Neal at UFC 298. He’s eyeing Colby Covington next and wants to see welterweight champion Leon Edwards defend his title against Muhammad so the division can move forward.
“I don’t understand this, I really don’t,” Garry said on “The MMA Hour.” “I see it like, for the UFC – Dana always speaks about how he wants to move the division, he wants to keep the champions active, and he wants to get the next guy in motion. I understand that the build-up for Belal and Leon might not be the most entertaining in the world. They’re not the most entertaining to listen to, or the press conference isn’t going to be that big of a build-up.
“But like everything that’s going on in my life at the moment, if the fight is going to live up and be good enough stylistically, why not make it happen? Why not just talk about the fighting? Leon is a phenomenal fighter. Belal is a phenomenal fighter. So let them go at each other and let them see who’s the best in the welterweight division at the moment. I believe they absolutely should make that fight.”
UFC CEO Dana White praised Edwards for accepting every fight offer, but Muhammad appears to imply that he wasn’t one of them – despite continuously being one of few fighters willing to fight during Ramadan, which finishes just days before UFC 300 on April 13.