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Belal Muhammad has had Colby Covington in his sights for a very long time now.
In an interview with TMZ Sports, Muhammad revealed he's been wanting to fight 'Chaos' for 10 years. That includes long before Covington became a top contender in the UFC welterweight division.
Muhammad said he has always disliked Covington as a person and would relish the opportunity to "punch him in the face."
"The fighter I'd like to punch, like I always wanted to hit Colby in the face. I have been calling for that fight for like 10 years now. Even before he was higher up there, even before he was in the rankings, before he was all of this, I just disliked that guy, I hated that guy. So I would always want to punch him in the face."
Check out Belal Muhammad's interaction with TMZ Sports below:
Belal Muhammad is currently the No.5-ranked contender in the welterweight division. He's undefeated in his last seven fights and picked up a big win against Stephen Thompson in his last outing.
Colby Covington, meanwhile, is currently the No.1-ranked welterweight contender and has already competed for the title twice, coming up short on both occasions. His last fight was a five-round back-and-forth thriller against Kamaru Usman.
A win against 'Chaos' in a potential clash could guarantee a title shot for Belal Muhammad.
Belal Muhammad believes a potential matchup against Jorge Masvidal "makes a lot of sense"
Belal Muhammad also thinks it makes sense for him to fight Jorge Masvidal down the line. He explained that since 'Gamebred' wants to fight guys who'd take him closer to another title shot, it would make sense for them to scrap.
Muhammad also said that since he's beaten Stephen Thompson and Demian Maia, two fighters who previously beat Masvidal, 'Gamebred' could erase those losses by facing and beating him.
"Masvidal, I'm right ahead of him. He fought for the title twice. So I just beat Maia, who fought for the title twice, 'Wonderboy', who fought for the title twice, I'll take Masvidal, who fought for the title twice. I beat two guys that beat him already back-to-back, so maybe for him, beating me would erase those two losses...Obviously big name, value fight, Masvidal. He's been saying he wants to fight guys that will get him to a title shot, I think fighting a guy like me who's right above him [at] number five makes a lot of sense."
