Kamaru Usman: Islam Makhachev should fight Belal Muhammad despite training ties, Muhammad responds

Kamaru Usman puts champ vs. champ over friend vs. friend.

The biggest question coming out of UFC 311 this past Saturday is, “Who is next for Islam Makhachev?” The dominant lightweight champion recorded his fourth straight title defense and 15th straight victory with a quick submission of short-notice challenger Renato Moicano, who stepped in as a replacement for Arman Tsarukyan. A back injury ruled Tsarukyan out of the contest and according to UFC CEO Dana White, he has to earn his shot again, leaving Makhachev without an obvious choice for his next opponent.

Usman thinks it makes sense for Makhachev to move up and challenge welterweight champion Belal Muhammad, a frequent training partner of Makhachev and his team.

“If I was Islam and I had to pick what will be the next fight, 100 percent I think Belal Muhammad and Ilia Topuria is definitely an easier matchup for me,” Usman said on the Pound-4-Pound podcast. “I think I go up there and starch either one of those guys and then decide what I want to do. If I want to retire, I retire, because looking at just the body composition and the way that these guys are cutting, I feel like it’s starting to get tough for Islam to get down to that weight class. If I was him, the decision that I would make next, 100 percent I would definitely probably go up.

“This whole notion of Belal training with them, they don’t want to—Bro, no. I’m going up there and I’m whipping him, I don’t care. Just because he comes into our camp, just tries to use our bodies and learn our style. I’m moving up, I’m whipping him, I’m taking that belt and I’m moving on to the next.”

Makhachev’s coach Khabib Nurmagomedov recently said he wouldn’t approve of a fight between Makhachev and Muhammad, due to their close relationship.

“My heart, not OK,” Nurmagomedov said. “It’s going to be hard to prepare Islam to beat Belal. He’s very close to me. … For me, it’s going to be hard to prepare somebody to beat Belal.”

That sentiment doesn’t fly with Usman, who believes Makhachev and Muhammad should focus on the bottom line, not their personal relationship.

“They’re not brothers,” Usman said. “They’re not from the same place. That dork just goes over there to train with them here and there. If it’s time to scrap, we scrap and we go get to the work happening. ... Mike Tyson put things in perspective: Even that is your real friend that you care about, then you let him get paid. I don’t see why you don’t make that fight at all. I don’t see it.”

It didn’t take long for Muhammad to catch Usman’s comments and respond on social media.

“Stop speaking my name until you finally end your losing streak,” Muhammad wrote. “Or you change the podcast name to ‘loss after loss.’”

Muhammad and Usman have been at odds for years, dating back to when Muhammad was climbing up the welterweight rankings during Usman’s reign as champion. Usman eventually lost his title to Leon Edwards, who then dropped the title to Muhammad at UFC 304 this past July. A former champion with five title defenses on his résumé, Usman has lost three straight fights dating back to 2021 and likely won’t be facing Muhammad in the cage anytime soon.

As for Makhachev’s other options, Usman isn’t sure why White is so bullish on removing Tsarukyan from the title picture (Tsarukyan has also stated he’s willing to compete again to re-earn his shot). Tsarukyan has won nine of his past 10 fights and as far as Usman is concerned, he’s still the No. 1 contender at 155 pounds.

“It hasn’t been clear on why Arman Tsarukyan was unable to compete,” Usman said. “Everyone is talking around it and everyone is kind of just moving past him and it seems a little unfair because Arman Tsarukyan has done the work to get here. He’s done the work to challenge for that title and, let’s be honest, this was the most competitive lightweight fight that we’ve seen in a long time. This would have been the most competitive because both guys are evenly matched, they’re both good everywhere. They’re both extremely well-rounded, they’re both tough, and they’ve got that hard-nosed style, so this would have been the most competitive.

“But for some reason it’s not really being exposed of what was—All they said was a back injury. So the fact that everyone is just kind of moving past Arman now... I don’t understand that.”