Ilia Topuria’s decision to vacate the featherweight title and move up to lightweight in search of his coveted second belt continues to generate opinions as the days go by. The latest to speak out on the matter is Belal Muhammad, UFC welterweight champion. The Palestinian fighter is a gym mate and friend of Islam Makhachev, lightweight champion, so his statements about ‘El Matador’ have not been peaceful. For Belal, Topuria should have waited one or two more fights before moving up in division, an opinion that follows the same line of argument as Makhachev or Khabib Nurmagomedov
In a recent interview with ‘BelieveYouMePodcast’, Muhammad criticized Topuria for vacating the featherweight belt so soon. Ilia won the belt in February 2024 by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski and defended it only against Max Holloway, whom he also knocked out last October. After finishing two of the greatest legends in the history of the division, ‘El Matador’ has set his sights on higher heights, with the number one pound-for-pound as his target. “Yes, you had those two great wins over Volkanovski and Holloway, but there’s still other guys in the division before you say ‘I’ve done everything I had to do at 145, I want to move up,'” explained the Palestinian.
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You had those two big wins over Volkanovski and Holloway, but there are still other guys
All of this has a direct relationship with the figure of Movsar Evloev (19-0), who despite having an undefeated record has yet to receive the opportunity for the featherweight belt because of how little his fights sell. Being Russian and a friend of the ‘Nurmagomedov Clan’, they have already asked on several occasions for Evloev as Topuria’s next opponent before the Spanish-Georgian made his final decision. “At the end of the day, you defended the belt once and I don’t think it’s enough,” Belal concluded.
A rivalry that goes back a long way
The bad blood between Ilia Topuria and Belal Muhammad is nothing new. Months ago, ‘El Matador’ described the Palestinian as a “redneck”, while in an Instagram live he also had some harsh words for him. “Belal is a fake champion. He is an impostor. I think right now in the welterweight division, the one who will come back and take the belt will be Kamaru Usman. It will be an easy job,” Topuria said at the time.Obviously Belal did not remain silent, defining Topuria as “the Georgian version of Colby Covington”.
Belal is a fake champion. He’s a fraud
The highlight of the feud came with Ilia’s viral tweet. “No finishes, no knockouts, no knockdowns, no girlfriend, no kids… Belal has never finished any man or woman,” ‘El Matador’ tweeted. Since then, whenever they talk about each other it is to increase the beef. It should not be forgotten that Ilia has already said that after getting the lightweight belt he wanted to go for the welterweight belt and be triple champion. For the moment Islam Makhachev is the opponent he wants to face, while between him and Belal another parallel story continues to be generated