Former UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad slammed UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland for his vicious pre-fight antics. Strickland defeated Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328 to win the middleweight title in a close fight. So intense was the pre-fight buildup that President Dana White introduced special security measures to avoid any escalations, pre-fight day. For instance, he lodged both fighters in separate lodgings and prevented any official pre-fight contacts.
Both fighters traded harsh barbs against each other on social media and in the pre-fight conference, with Strickland being the antagonist. Things steeped two days before fightday when Chimaev kicked Strickland over the latter’s harsh poise. Specifically, Chimaev took offense to the 35-year-old mocking his religion in his trash talk. In return, the Russian-Emirati fighter weaponized Strickland’s self-confessed past trauma tales.
White described the pre-fight antics as one of the most intense in the promotion’s history. While Strickland apologized for his tirades after the fight, the American fighter had already stepped on several toes, including Muhammad’s.
Belal Muhammad vows to retaliate against Sean Strickland’s anti-religious comments
In a clip shared via X, the UFC veteran condemned Strickland’s trash talk against Khamzat Chimaev. Muhammad took Strickland’s anti-religion comments most personally and wants to “make the clown bleed”.
Muhammad returns to the Octagon on June 6 when he faces Gabriel Bonfim in the main event of UFC Vegas 118. For Muhammad, the bout is a must-win event if he’d remain in the welterweight division’s top-10 ranking. Muhammad has lost his two last fights since his UFC welterweight title triumph over against Leon Edwards in 2024. There are no doubts about his competitiveness in both games. However, he badly needs to return to winning ways. Of course, his fight against Bonfim won’t be easy, as the Brazilian fighter is one of the division’s biggest rising names.
At the moment, Strickland will have to move up weight classes if he’d realize his intentions to make Strickland bleed. But for now, Muhammad is a welterweight and needs to win his June 6 match to keep his career on the right track.
