UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad is confident he can make Shavkat Rakhmonov fold.
Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) is expected to make his first title defense this year against Rakhmonov, who’s coming off a five-round decision win over Ian Machado Garry at UFC 310. Rakhmonov faced Machado Garry after Muhammad withdrew from their title fight due to a bone infection in his foot.
Muhammad dominated Leon Edwards to become champion at UFC 304. While he expects a bigger resolve from Rakhmonov (19-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC), Muhammad thinks he can eventually drag him to deep waters.
“When you’re fighting a guy like Shavkat where they put him on this pedestal to be this undefeated crazy guy, I see holes in his game in the same way I saw holes in Leon’s game,” Muhammad said in an interview with Barstool Sports Chicago. “I think Leon’s a better striker than Shavkat, but mentally I think Shavkat’s a lot stronger. I don’t see him breaking mentally. The biggest thing for him is, now you’re fighting a guy that’s not afraid of you. Everybody he fights, they come in there with nerves and they’re afraid: ‘Oh, he’s crazy. He’s a robot. He’s this, this and that.’
“A lot of guys would just fold out of that fear. For me, I’m going to be in his face the whole time and it’s going to be the same resolve – another guy breaking. A lot of guys like him, when you’ve never felt that, where a guy is not afraid of you or a guy is still with you this whole time for five rounds, and he’s pushing a different pace that you’ve never seen before, and ‘I’m supposed to be the undefeated guy,’ you’ve never had to experience that before. It’s going to be the worst-case scenario for him.”
Muhammad is unbeaten in his past 11 fights – including wins over Edwards, Gilbert Burns and Sean Brady.
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