Belal Muhammad opens up on extreme measure he considered to stay on UFC 310 card: "Doctors were like ‘are you stupid?'"

Belal Muhammad entered the octagon in July and defeated Leon Edwards via unanimous decision at UFC 304 to capture the welterweight title. He appeared set to attempt to defend the belt for the first time against Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310. However, he was forced to withdraw from the bout due to a bone infection in his foot.

'Remember the Name' recently revealed that he nearly had his toe amputated to remain on the card. Speaking to Caroline Pearce of TNT Sports, the welterweight champion was asked about those comments, and he responded, stating:

"Yeah, like I said, being my first main event in Vegas, I was so hyped for it. I had so many family [members] that bought tickets already and I was like, 'do I need this toe?' and the doctors were like, 'are you stupid?' The infection started climbing up the foot and I was like, 'alright, well, whatever, let's just get it over with'. God's plan. Everything happens for a reason. I just got to trust it."

Muhammad continued:

"Like I said, now I'm just excited just to get back to doing what I love. Six weeks sitting on the couch doing nothing, it just made me appreciate the sport - made me appreciate my career more and you take it for granted sometimes, right? Because you're just training everyday. People go to work everyday and they hate their job. I love my job. I love going to the gym and now that I was missing it for so long, I can't wait to go back."

Check out Belal Muhammad's comments on considering amputating his toe below:

Following Muhammad's withdrawal from the card, Rakhmonov was rebooked against Ian Machado Garry. 'Nomad' won the bout via unanimous decision to remain next in line to challenge for the welterweight title.

Belal Muhammad predicts that he will dominate Shavkat Rakhmonov

Belal Muhammad will face Shavkat Rakhmonov when he recovers from the bone infection in his foot that kept him out of UFC 310. The welterweight champion predicted that he would dominate his next opponent when they finally share the octagon.

Speaking to The Schmo following 'Nomad's latest victory, Muhammad claimed:

"I mean, before this fight even happened, I thought I was going to dominate him. So now, I've got an extra 25 minutes to break him down even more and I came to the same conclusion - I'm going to dominate him. I'm better than both of these guys. I'm better than everybody in the division and next time you see me in the cage, you guys are going to realize it."

Check out Belal Muhammad discussing Shavkat Rakhmonov matchup below:

Rakhmonov has never been defeated in his mixed martial arts career and his UFC 310 clash with Ian Machado Garry marked the first time he failed to finish an opponent. Meanwhile, Muhammad has not lost a bout in nearly six years since losing to Geoff Neal via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 143.