There’s no love lost between former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and the division’s current king, Belal Muhammad.
The bad blood between Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) and Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) has been brewing for quite some time, with the two repeatedly trading shots in interviews and online. Tensions reportedly came to a head during an appearance by Muhammad on Pound 4 Pound, the podcast Usman co-hosts alongside Henry Cejudo. While neither side has revealed what exactly went down, it’s clear the encounter only added fuel to the fire.
Usman recently opened up about the roots of the feud, offering a glimpse into what’s driving the ongoing animosity between him and the reigning champ.
"Belal just seems to be a different type of champion who's willing to make memes, he's willing to get on Twitter, social media, because he wants the attention," Usman said during an interview with ESPN. "He craves that attention. Even if you're a lightweight, even if you're a guy that's a flyweight who's not in the division, he's willing to have that back-and-forth with you. And for me, I just find it a little bit distasteful, and I wasn't a part of it.
"And once he became champion, he started to come at me with that energy, it was like, 'Oh, you have a problem with me? Well, if you have a problem, I don't really play the internet game. Let's talk it out.' So we invited him on the podcast, and it went how it went. That's all I could say. Eventually, hopefully we'll release that podcast because he was only there for maybe like 10 minutes. It wasn't really long, and then it was over and he left."
Usman, who is set to make his return on June 14 in the UFC on ESPN 69 main event against Joaquin Buckley (21-6 MMA, 11-4 UFC), was recently asked whether security would be necessary if he and Belal Muhammad found themselves in the same room.
"Probably," Usman said. "I would say that only because – obviously I'm very level-headed, especially when I'm outside of the cage, but for the past year-and-a-half, I haven't been in the thick of it. There's a transition when you're not in it and people expect us to be these fighters. We're always on go mode to where, when I'm outside of the cage, people are like, 'Why are you so calm? You're a scary fighter,' but I'm not like that until you're in the thick of it, you're on alert all the time."
A showdown between Kamaru Usman and Belal Muhammad could be on the horizon—provided both men take care of business in their upcoming bouts.
Muhammad is set to put his welterweight title on the line this Saturday at UFC 315, where he headlines against the surging Jack Della Maddalena (17-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) at Montreal’s Bell Centre. Meanwhile, Usman, despite riding a three-fight skid, is scheduled to face Joaquin Buckley on June 14. According to Muhammad, if both come out with wins, the UFC could be inclined to pair them up.
