Kamaru Usman slams Belal Muhammad and claims the belt has gone to his head: “All of a sudden you’re talking reckless"

Kamaru Usman has not taken kindly to Belal Muhammad's recent post online dismissing the former champion's title reign. 'The Nigerian Nightmare' ruled over the welterweight division from from 2019 until 2022, where he was knocked out by Leon Edwards are UFC 278.

'Rocky' defeated Usman in their second title fight, at UFC 286, and followed that by defending the title against Colby Covington at UFC 296. But Edwards came unstuck against Muhammad in a surprising result that saw 'Remember the Name' secure a dominant decision victory at UFC 304.

Usman took to X several days after the result, taking aim at Muhammad and claiming that when he was champion, the now-welterweight king was barely in the rankings.

His post saw Muhammad reply by discrediting his championship reign, prompting a response from the 37-year old during a recent episode of the Pound 4 Pound podcast, co-hosted by Usman and Henry Cejudo. He said:

"Everything [Muhammad] does, I do better... Becoming the new champion, that goes to your head. It's like having your first beer, all of a sudden now you're talking reckless to everybody like you're this dude... If that is my next fight, then I'm gonna have to go in there and do what I do."

Watch Kamaru Usman's response to Belal Muhammad below (15:55):

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Kamaru Usman believes Dricus du Plessis' favors Israel Adesanya more than Sean Strickland

Israel Adesanya is in the final stages of preparation for his return to the octagon, where he will take on Dricus du Plessis in the main event of UFC 305.

'The Last Stylebender' suffered an unexpected title defeat to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 and announced that he would be taking a hiatus from competition.

Ahead of his return, fellow countryman and friend of Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, shared his thoughts on the upcoming middleweight title fight. 'The Nigerian Nightmare' believes that Du Plessis' style will favor the former champion more than Strickland's.

During the aforementioned episode of the Pound 4 Pound podcast, he said:

"Styles make fights, and I think this is a better style matchup for a guy like Israel Adesanya as opposed to somebody like Sean Strickland... A guy like Sean Strickland, who's standing right in front of you, he seems very very hittable. But he's not necessarily hittable... He makes it almost impossible for you to hit his head." [35:50-37:00 in Kamaru Usman's aforementioned video]