'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Considering how prominent Belal Muhammad is in the MMA world as the reigning UFC welterweight champion, it's curious that he had his eyes on an entirely different sport at one point in time. There was a prior juncture where Muhammad had visions of becoming an NBA player, and he got into this during an interview in December 2023.
Appearing on The Coach and The Casual, Muhammad covered several subjects during their 14th episode. When discussing how much of his success in MMA came from sheer hard work and not doing any martial arts training, Muhammad said:
"I was going to school for law. I wasn't planning on fighting. I wanted to join the NBA, but I didn't get over 5-foot-10. I was like nothing happened, and then I was like in college, University of Illinois, and I just literally stumbled across a newspaper where my old high school wrestling coach, Louis Taylor, was fighting for Strikeforce.
Trending
"I just messaged him on Facebook, and I was like, 'Bro, you're a fighter?' He was like, 'Yeah, yeah, I'm fighting, my gym's right here,' and it ended up being like near my mom's house. So, whenever I would come home on the weekend, I would go down there and train with him for a little bit. So, I'd go weekends, weekends, weekends, and I just started falling in love with it."
Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more
Check out Belal Muhammad's pivot from law and basketball to MMA below [17:37]:
The time Belal Muhammad thought the UFC was going to cut him
While he sits at the top of the mountain in the world of MMA today, it has not been the easiest journey for Belal Muhammad. In fact, there was one point in time when the 36-year-old was worried that the UFC was going to cut him.
Muhammad had this concern after suffering the first-ever knockout loss of his career. This transpired in November 2016 at UFC 205, which was headlined by the lightweight title fight that saw Conor McGregor claim the strap that was previously held by Eddie Alvarez.
On that iconic debut for the organization in Madison Square Garden, Belal Muhammad was stopped with strikes less than 80 seconds into the contest by Vicente Luque. With the benefit of hindsight, this seemed like a galvanizing moment for the Chicago native.
Muhammad told this to The Full Send Podcast as he was 1-2 in the UFC at that moment, but emerging victorious from a short-notice bout with Randy Brown netted Muhammad a new contract. The rest is history, and now Muhammad looks to notch that all-important first title defense as he aims to win with emphasis.
