Undefeated welterweight Belal Muhammad returns to action September 19th against Zane Kamaka at Titan FC 35 on UFC Fight Pass. Muhammad (7-0) spoke to MMAOddsBreaker on an “Extra” edition of The Parting Shot Podcast and discussed a variety of topics. How he got involved in MMA “I boxed when I was younger, I wrestled my whole life. My highschool wrestling coach, I ended up seeing him fighting in Strikeforce, Louis Taylor, he was headlining one of their cards. So I ended up Facebook’ing him and he told me to stop by the gym, I stopped by the gym and I fell in love with ever since. I’ve always been a fan of sport, I always watched The Ultimate Fighter, PRIDE, I just watched all the fights. I never knew there were gyms around me [where I could train MMA] So when I figured out there was something close, I just started doing it.” Influences in MMA “I’m more of a Diaz brothers fan. I just liked their style, I just liked that they always move forward. Always talking trash. [Being] from Chicago, you’re mostly fighting in the streets a lot. So they give that same feel.” Not re-signing with Bellator “[I competed for them] when they were under their old management, I didn’t like the way they were going, holding fighters hostage. Like putting things in their contracts where they can’t leave if they wanted to. They’re looking pretty good now though with Scott Coker. They’re looking on the up and up.” Why he chose to sign with Titan FC “I had interest from other organizations, but with Titan it looked like they respect the fighters a lot. They aren’t going to hold you hostage; if you want to fight for organizations [and] if they don’t have a fight for you they’ll allow you do that. I’m in the sport to fight the best guys in the world and I want to just beat the best guys in front of me.” Performance in his last fight against Keith Johnson “I was pretty satisfied. I went from fighting a 5’10 wrestler [in Colton Smith] to a 6’3 southpaw, longer fighter [in replacement fighter Keith Johnson]. I was able to deal with it because I have good training partners. I see a lot of different styles so [the late replacement] did affect me that much. I would always like a finish, but I’m always going to enjoy a win no matter what.” Matchup with Zane Kamaka “I think it’s a good matchup, I think it’s more of an exciting matchup. He looks like he’s ready to stand up the whole time, so I think it’s an exciting fight.” Watching tape on opponents “I’m actually a guy who doesn’t like to watch tape just because I don’t like thinking about it. I’m the type of guy who will always think about it and I won’t be able to sleep. My coaches watch tape and let me know of things I need to work on. For the most part, I’m pretty much good anywhere it goes. I’m not afraid to box with a boxer, wrestled with a wrestler grapple with a grappler. I can go wherever the fight goes.” Training camp for this fight “I’m from Chicago so I train down here with Louis Taylor, he’s a WSOF fighter. Then I also go to Wisconsin with Mike “Biggie” Rhodes, Duke Roufus and Anthony Pettis. So I get some good training partners.” Training at Tristar at the beginning of his camp “After my last fight I met Firas Zahabi because he’s one of the Titan FC commentators. He was super cool about it, I ended up messaging him and he [extended an invitation]. I was able to go down to Canada to train at Tristar for a week also at the beginning of my camp to go train at Firas Zahabi. It was really nice [going to Montreal] we ended up driving down there, an 18-hour drive. The scenery was really nice and the gym was awesome. I definitely plan on going back there, hopefully next time I can stay a little longer. Last time I was only there for a week. I plan on staying there for a couple of weeks next time.” Working a full time job and training “I own a cellphone store in Chicago. I mean me and my brother own the business, so it’s easier with him because he supports everything I do. Whenever I have a fight coming up, he’s always like ‘take off’” Cut to welterweight “I’m usually about 15-pounds over. I like to just diet, once I start dieting and eat cleaner I’m usually around 10-pounds within a week, so it’s super easy for me. I’m usually always eating clean, so I’m always having cheat days on the weekend. My biggest vice is ice cream, down here they have different flavours so I go down there all the time.” How this fight ends on September 19th “I see it ending in a knockout. I think it’s going to be one of those fights where we’re both going to bang it out and I’m going to end up catching him.” Deserving of a UFC call up if he wins September 19th “I think I should because it’s not like I’m fighting cans. My last three opponents were all like 10-2, 11-2, they all really have good records. I’m not the type of guy who fights 0-2, 0-3 bums and then finish them. Then say why am I not getting my shot? I’m 8-0. But I’m fighting guys with good records because I want to fight the best guys around.” Nickname “Remember The Name” “I just said that because I want to be the type of fighters than the fans always want to see. I have a hard name, so I know that they see my nickname they’ll remember it after the fight. I just made it up; they asked me my first fight. In my first fight the announcer couldn’t pronounce my name, so I put that as my nickname.” Being a Chicago sports fan “I’m a huge sports guy, I like the Chicago Bulls, Chicago Bears and you got to be a Blackhawks fan if you’re from Chicago. I just had my [Fantasy Football] draft this past Sunday. I was pretty good I ended up getting Jamaal Charles in my third pick. So I got a pretty good team going.” You can follow Belal on Twitter @bullyb170 and you can also listen to the full audio version of this interview on an “Extra” edition of The Parting Shot Podcast below (27 seconds in)
