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Belal Muhammad believes a fight against Khamzat Chimaev makes the most sense with regards to the welterweight title picture. While Muhammad has previously called out Colby Covington, he doesn't think a fight against 'Chaos' makes sense for either him or Chimaev at this point.
With Covington having already made two unsuccessful title bids, Muhammad is eyeing a title eliminator bout between himself and 'Borz'. 'Remember The Name' recently told MMA Junkie:
"If you look at it, me and Chimaev make the most sense. If you're looking at the division, top five, the guys who haven't fought [Kamaru] Usman, it's just me and him. The guys who fought him before, Gilbert [Burns] and Colby [Covington], they have already fought him. Colby fought him twice. So there's really no point of either one of us fighting Colby right now. You can just have us two fight each other and the winner fights for the title next. That makes the most sense."
Watch Belal Muhammad's interview with MMA Junkie below:
Muhammad also weighed in on recent rumors about a potential bout between Chimaev and Nate Diaz. While the Chicago native doesn't see the point in the matchup, he thinks an emphatic win over Diaz could be Chimaev's route to a title shot.
Belal Muhammad believes Khamzat Chimaev will be a tougher test than Colby Covinton
Belal Muhammad is undefeated in his last eight outings. Having risen to the welterweight top five with a win over Vicente Luque last month, the Chicago native is now looking to push for a title shot. In the same interview with MMA Junkie, he gave his assessment of his fellow top-ranked 170-pound contenders Colby Covington and Khamzat Chimaev.
Muhammad believes Covington will be an easier matchup for him than Chimaev. 'Remember The Name' claimed that Covington largely relies on his cardio, which he doesn't view as a threat. While the 33-year-old isn't in awe of Chimaev's gas tank, he believes the unbeaten phenom's one-punch knockout power makes him more dangerous.
"The tougher fight of the two I think would be Chimaev. For me, I think Colby just beats guys based off of cardio, and I think I got good enough cardio to keep up with him. Chimaev, as you’ve seen in his last fight, I think that his weakness is cardio, but his strength is power."
He added:
"Colby doesn’t really have power or anything special on the ground or anything that’s scary at all. Chimaev, obviously he has that one-punch power, and he showed that he has a chin, too, against Gilbert, so I think he’d definitely be the tougher test of the two.”
