Alexander Volkanovski surprises fans with uncharacteristic clap back at Belal Muhammad over potential title shot

Alexander Volkanovski recently sent combat sports fans into a frenzy after responding to Belal Muhammad's dismissal of him as a worthy opponent. While the Australian is usually known to be calm, collected, and respectful in his interactions, the former UFC featherweight king uncharacteristically fired back at Muhammad's comments and downplayed his recent title-winning performance.

Muhammad beat Leon Edwards at UFC 304 last weekend and took home the welterweight championship. Before the fight, Volkanovski was prepared to step in to replace either of the two title contenders if necessary and claimed that he saw 'Remember The Name' as a "good matchup" stylistically.

It appears Muhammad didn't like the former featherweight king's comments and issued a response during a post-fight interview. Addressing Volkanovski's statements, he said:

"Shut up bro, I'll smack the hell out of you... There's nobody in the UFC that will beat me."

Volkanovski seemingly wasn't in the mood to take Muhammad's response sitting down and responded to the reigning UFC welterweight champion with a brutal clapback. In an X post, he wrote:

"@bullyb170 You have every reason to hate on what I said about you being a good stylistic matchup for me, but I truly believe that, even after your last fight, you didn’t show me anything different. You still mad because I accidentally missed your call…pathetic! Say, 'Shut up, I’ll smack the sh*t out of you,' to my face and see what happens."

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Fans react to Alexander Volkanovski's unexpected response to Belal Muhammad

Given Alexander Volkanovski's atypical response to Belal Muhammad dismissing him as a legitimate opponent, many fight fans took to the comments section of the Australian's X post to express their thoughts.

While some backed Volkanovski to beat Muhammad, many weren't confident of the former UFC featherweight champion's chances and urged the Australian not to pursue the matchup.

One fan pointed out that Volkanovski's response was out of character for him and wrote:

"This isn't you, Alex. Humble yourself."

Another fan wrote:

"Easy there tiger. You're not a good matchup to Belal. Don't see it."

One user pointed out that Volkanovski was coming off two consecutive KO losses and wrote:

"Sit this one out. You're 1-2 in your last 3."

Check out some more reactions below:

Screenshots from @alexvolkanovski on X