Belal Muhammad rules out fighting Islam Makhachev, takes shots at Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis: "Probably the easiest weight class"

Belal Muhammad would rather move up to middleweight than fight Islam Makhachev at welterweight.

Over the past few months, Makhachev has increasingly voiced his interest in attempting to become a two-division world champion. The pound-for-pound king isn't able to cut down to featherweight, so he would need to move up to welterweight.

The problem for Makhachev is welterweight world champion Belal Muhammad is his friend and training partner. Neither fighter has been enthusiastic about pursuing the matchup.

During an interview with Barstool Chicago, Muhammad had this to say about not wanting to fight Makhachev:

"I would never fight Islam [Makhachev] because that's different for me and him. We've trained together. When you're sweating with somebody and you're bleeding with somebody and you train with somebody like that, it's just a different relationship. It wouldn't be about money for me or for him I don't assume. So, I would never want to do that. They've helped me so much."

Muhammad continued by revealing he'd rather fight at middleweight to avoid a fight against Makhachev:

"I would rather go up to 185 and just let him take 170 if that's the case. Since I've already had to fight my way up to 170 and I've beaten five top-ten guys, I'm two fights away from being able to challenge at 185 and saying, yeah, I want to be double champ."

Muhammad followed up by disrespecting the middleweight division, including reigning champion Dricus du Plessis and ufc-312-loss-dricus-du-plessis-he-s-coward" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-is-sponsored="false">former champion Sean Strickland:

"I train with bigger guys, so I've felt their strength. I think 185 is probably the easiest weight class besides Khamzat [Chimaev]. Bro, [Sean] Strickland and [Dricus] du Plessis suck."

Watch Belal Muhammad talk about potentially moving up to middleweight below:

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Belal Muhammad likely needs at least one welterweight title defense before moving up

Belal Muhammad became the UFC welterweight champion with a unanimous decision win against Leon Edwards in July 2024.

In December of the same year, Muhammad was scheduled to defend his world title for the first time against Shavkat Rakhmonov, but the champion pulled out due to a foot infection.

Dana White has claimed in the past that he's not a fan of champions pursuing two-division greatness without multiple title defenses.

Therefore, the UFC could decide to rebook Muhammad vs. Rakhmonov before worrying about any champions changing divisions.