"Poor Belal," "Some serious team" - Fans react to footage of Belal Muhammad training with Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov ahead of UFC 311 

Belal Muhammad's recent training session with Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov has garnered a wide variety of reactions from MMA fans worldwide. Some poked fun at Muhammad, claiming that Makhachev would easily defeat him in a champion vs. champion clash, while others commended their team.

This year's first pay-per-view, UFC 311, will be historic for the Dagestani camp, with Makhachev slated to make his fourth title defense in a rematch against Arman Tsarukyan in the main event. Umar, cousin of Khabib Nurmagomedov, is also fighting for UFC gold, challenging Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title in the co-main event.

Notably, Muhammad, who is close to the Nurmagomedov team, recently trained with them ahead of UFC 311.

Check out the post below:

Fans soon rushed to the comments section to share their reactions.

One fan expressed admiration, writing:

''Some serious team''

Another fan dissed Muhammad, writing:

''Poor Belal. Dude is just trying to fit in somewhere lol. No one likes him and no one wants him as champ because his fights are a snooze fest.''

Other fans wrote:

''He's trying so hard to get in good terms with Islam so that Islam doesn't move up''

''Belal joined because he wanted to strengthen the wrestling and grappling of Islam. Arman has been training with Khamzat and Sadulaev.''

Check out more reactions below:

Fan reactions [Screenshots courtesy of @ChampRDS on X]

Muhammad beat Leon Edwards at UFC 304 last year to win the title. 'Remember the Name' was scheduled to face unbeaten welterweight Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310. However, a foot injury forced him out of the bout, and Rakhmonov went on to beat Ian Machado Garry.

Muhammad and Rakhmonov are expected to clash this year.

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Ali Abdelaziz previews Islam Makhachev's title fight against Arman Tsarukyan

Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan are set to run it back in the main event of UFC 311. In their first encounter at UFC Fight Night 149 in Russia back in 2019, when both fighters were unranked, Makhachev prevailed via unanimous decision after Tsarukyan stepped in on short notice for his UFC debut against the Dagestani.

While Tsarukyan will look to even the score in their rematch, Makhachev's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, believes a certain "situation" made for their first fight being closely contested and that his client beats everyone on the UFC roster from lightweight through to middleweight. In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, he said:

''He had a situation in the first fight [with Tsarukyan], I’m not going to make excuses for him. Arman is an absolute beast, he’s very tough – I think Arman will be a champion, but I don’t think it’s now. It’s not his time. He’s young. I don’t think any man from 155 pounds to 185 pounds can beat Islam Makhachev. It doesn’t exist.''

Check out the full interview below: