Belal Muhammad, having long sought a fight with Colby Covington who recently lost another title shot, now dismisses Covington’s callout and also downplays the possibility of facing Conor McGregor, who has been inactive since 2021.
Belal Muhammad, in his pursuit of a UFC championship, frequently called out top contenders. Colby Covington was often at the top of that list.
Covington, a three-time title challenger and former interim champion, consistently held a high ranking in the UFC welterweight division. However, he chose to fight ex-friend Jorge Masvidal in 2022.
Afterward, Covington waited over a year for another title shot. This opportunity came in December but ended in defeat against Leon Edwards at UFC 296.
Now fully recovered from a broken foot, Covington is eyeing his return to the octagon. Interestingly, he has finally called out Muhammad as an opponent.
Muhammad is currently awaiting his own title fight against Edwards at UFC 304 this Saturday. After years of unreciprocated callouts, Muhammad now finds it amusing to dismiss Covington’s challenge.
“That was honestly the funniest thing,” Muhammad told MMA Fighting. “I’m not even going to bring attention to it because then I’m going to have a back-and-forth with him.”
“This guy’s a joke now. He understands he’s a joke now,” Muhammad continued. “So he’s trying to go out there and call out these bigger names.”
“He’s calling out me, he’s calling out [Charles] Oliveira,” Muhammad added. “Ian Garry’s not worth it. Why? Because Ian Garry’s a bad matchup for you?”
“He knows that if he loses one more fight, it’s over,” Muhammad stated bluntly. “How terrible that last fight was; he’s desperate for something.”
“He’s desperate for a win,” Muhammad said with finality. “I think he’ll just sit there and wait.”
“Maybe he’ll call out a [featherweight] or somebody and hope one of those guys bite on the bullet.”
Muhammad has moved beyond Covington as an opponent option. But what about Conor McGregor?
The Irish superstar hasn’t fought since 2021 but was set to face Michael Chandler at UFC 303 before injuring his pinky toe.
“Leon Edwards loves decisions,” McGregor recently remarked. “Then he’s fighting another decision guy—your man Belal.”
“Not great times in the welterweight title picture.”
Muhammad shrugged off McGregor’s suggestion about going for the welterweight title post-Chandler fight.