Will Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov coach next 'TUF' season? Dricus du Plessis' manager issues unfiltered response to rumors

Welterweight king Belal Muhammad and top contender Shavkat Rakhmonov are rumored to be the coaches for TUF 33, as per rumors. Dricus du Plessis' manager has now addressed these speculations.

The Ultimate Fighter 33 is scheduled to start on November 4 and conclude on December 18, 2025, as made known via a recent press release. UPFRONT MMA on X, recently stated Muhammad and Rakhmonov will be the coaches for the impending season.

They posted a 'Remember the Name' vs 'Nomad' face-off picture with the following caption:

"🚨RUMOR!! Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov will be the coaches for the next season of @UltimateFighter 🤯🤯🤯 LFG!!!! @ufc."

Du Plessis’s manager Daniel Rubinstein shared the same post on his feed claiming that the rumors are fake, stating:

"lol no they won’t 🤦🏻‍♂️ on this BS again. Stop making sh*t up."

Check out Daniel Rubinstein's comment and the original post below of Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmovov rumored to be the coaches for TUF 33:

As per the official press release, the coaches for the impending TUF season are yet to be determined, along with the date for the premiere which will be fixated soon. Meanwhile, the showmakers are looking for welterweight and flyweight combatants to be a part of this edition of TUF.

The Ultimate Fighter 32 comprised Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko as coaches, who mentored teams with featherweight and middleweight combatants. Mairon Santos became the featherweight champion and Ryan Loder became the middleweight king as TUF32 concluded.

TUF 31, on the other hand, had Conor Mcgregor and Michael Chandler as head coaches for the season.

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Belal Muhammad's coach defends him from critics

Belal Muhammad is on an 11-fight unbeaten streak (nine wins and one no-contest against Leon Edwards). The welterweight champion was scheduled to defend his belt against Shavkat Rakhmonov in UFC 310 but withdrew from the fight because of a bone injury. In 2025, he will put his strap on the line against 'Nomad.'

'Remember the Name' is loved by some and hated by many. Recently, his coach Louis Taylor addressed why Muhammad doesn’t get credit despite being fantastic inside the octagon and stated:

"The MMA community has taken up on making Belal one of the most disliked or they wanna they saying boring… but like I said Belal is only boring up to people who don’t understand or have a high fight IQ. Real fighters love Belal…”

Check out Louis Taylor's comments about Belal Muhammad: