Considering both his outstanding 10-fight streak and the incredibly impressive nature of his UFC welterweight title-winning performance, Belal Muhammad might very well be one of the best fighters to have ever competed at 170lbs.
However, ‘Remember the Name’ is also one of the perceived ‘least popular’ champions out there, being consistently put down and lambasted by the wider MMA community for what many believe to be a ‘boring’ fight style – his veteran coach, Louis Taylor, fires back.
Belal Muhammad’s coach defends ‘most disliked’ UFC champion
On the one hand, 75% of Belal Muhammad’s professional MMA wins have come via decision; on the other, he’s left countless world-class fighters in his wake, including Sean Brady, Stephen Thompson, Gilbert Burns, Vicente Luque, and Leon Edwards.
Whilst there’s certainly no shortage of MMA fans who think Muhammad snoozed his way into the UFC title picture, there’s also an argument that those fans are simply bitter that he’s consistently beating their favorite fighters.
Speaking to Parry Punch’s Jacob Castro, that was the case that coach Louis Taylor was keen to make – first, acknowledging that professional fighters view Muhammad very differently to the wider fanbase.
“I mean, unfortunately, the MMA community has taken upon making Belal one of the most disliked – or they want to say boring – but Belal’s only boring to people who don’t understand or have a high fight IQ.
“Real fighters love Belal, real champions always want to pick his brain, his phone is always ringing from some of the best champions because they understand how hard he works and how he breaks down so many great fighters, and makes them look weak, soft, past their prime.”
It’s easy to get behind slick strikers who score vicious knockouts, and whilst Taylor knows that Muhammad isn’t a ‘viral finish’ type of fighter, he understands that there are multiple ways to achieve world championship success. And that’s all that really matters.
“They have to understand that Belal isn’t a Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robot type of fighter; he’s a high IQ fighter and he’s also a pressure fighter, it’s not like he’s sitting back trying to snipe, he’s [always] coming forward.
“People don’t want to call it as it really is because he’s consistently making those people who bet against him, pay a hefty price – if all you did was put your money on Belal Muhammad, you would be a very happy camper.”
Muhammad has closed as the betting underdog in each of his last five fights and despite winning each in impressive fashion, Taylor believes that any fan backlash is simply them ignoring the writings on the wall.
“You see what you want to see, but the results have spoken [for themselves]. He may not have finished everybody, but he has always come close to finishing in every fight he’s had… People don’t want to give credit where it’s due because he’s consistently beating their favorite fighters.”
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Muhammad is expected to return to action sometime before the Summer after an injury forced him out of his UFC 310 main event fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov.
According to manager Ali Abdelaziz, that fight is now being targeted for May 2025.
“I think he’ll fight in May; this is what we are looking at,” he told MMA Junkie.
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