Sean Strickland Challenges the Dethroned Welterweight Champion to Fight
At UFC 315, Welterweight Champion Belal Muhammad lost his title in an unexpectedly exciting war with new champ Jack Della Maddalena. Ordinarily, the path forward for an ousted champion is clear. If Belal followed the usual pattern we would see him attempt to defeat a top contender and earn a rematch against JDM to reclaim UFC gold. That blueprint is muddied by Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev’s move up to Welterweight. Makhachev and Muhammad are friends and training partners who have said they would never fight each other. Thus, Belal’s champion status was an obstacle to Islam’s double-champ aspirations. That obstacle has been removed, but it leaves uncertainty as to what comes next for Muhammad. Former Middleweight Champion Sean Strickland has graciously, if ungracefully, stepped in to offer a solution to this problem.
A Brash Callout from Strickland
In a recent interview, Helen Yee asked Sean Strickland who he would like to fight next. Strickland used the opportunity to target Belal Muhammad in light of his possible impending move to Middleweight.
”Belal you should finally sack up, all that s*** you talked man. We can finally make it happen. You lost your belt. You kinda got f***ed up. I got f***ed up. We should make that fight happen, Belal. All that s*** he talked on Instagram, ‘I’m gonna come fight you’ now you can, you f***ing p***y, do it for Palestine!“
Belal Muhammad has been an aggressive critic of Sean Strickland for a long while, mirroring Dricus du Plessis’ insults about his family and generally disrespecting him at all turns. The war of words has been mutual, with Strickland offending Belal with his generally anti-Palestinian stance on the war in Gaza in addition to insulting the former Welterweight champion directly.
Two Former Champions With Everything to Prove
Sean Strickland is 1-2 in his last three fights, losing twice to current champion Dricus du Plessis and notching a victory over perennial gatekeeper Paulo Costa. Another loss in his next outing could put him in a bit of a hole in terms of title aspirations moving forward. A win over Muhammad however, would keep him on the short list of potential challengers.
For Belal Muhammad, a win will be important as well. With a victory over Strickland he’ll prove that he belongs at Middleweight and immediately insert himself into the contention race. However, if he were to suffer a second consecutive loss in his debut at 185 lbs, it could create a more difficult path as he tries to work his way toward a world title in a second weight class.
It remains to be seen whether UFC has interest in booking the fight. However, if it materializes it will be a high stakes matchup and the caustic trash talking in the promotional cycle will be second to none. Hopefully we’ll have clarification on the next steps for the two former champions in the coming weeks.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
