UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad recently reacted to high praise from UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov ahead of his first title defense. Muhammad is scheduled to take on Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315.
Belal Muhammad Grateful for Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Compliments Ahead of UFC 315
Muhammad and Nurmagomedov share a strong relationship, and the reigning champion has often been seen training under “The Eagle” alongside his team.
Recently, Nurmagomedov was asked whether he would support the idea of his friend and protege, Islam Makhachev, moving up in weight to potentially challenge Muhammad in pursuit of a second belt.
The former UFC lightweight champion firmly dismissed the idea, stating such a fight would never happen due to the close friendship and respect between their teams. Nurmagomedov also had high praise for the reigning welterweight champion’s skills and cardio.
Muhammad will defend his title for the first time at UFC 315, where he will headline against Jack Della Maddalena on May 10, 2025, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Ahead of the highly anticipated bout, Muhammad spoke with Damon Martin about Nurmagomedov’s praise. Asked about how it felt to receive such compliments from one of MMA’s greatest champions, “Remember The Name” expressed deep gratitude.
“Yeah, well I mean it’s like the highest honor to get respect from him, and like I said, there are the fans or whatever, the trolls are going to hate, but to get the respect of your peers and to get the respect of who I think is the GOAT in UFC history, the best to ever do it,” Muhammad said.
The reigning welterweight champion emphasized how much it meant to hear those words from Nurmagomedov and said he hopes to emulate Khabib’s fighting style and demeanor outside the Octagon.
“For him to say that I have the best cardio and to hype me up like that, it means the world. Just to get messages from him, right? Because I look up to him and I want to emulate him and his style, the way he fights, and the way he acts as a champion. So yeah, it means the world.”
Belal Muhammad Appreciated Khabib For His Words:👏
"It's like the highest honour to get respect from him. For him to say that I have the best cardio and to hype me up like that, it means real.
I look up to him, and I wanna emulate him and his style, and the way he fights and… pic.twitter.com/z2LN8aH4Fr
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) April 25, 2025
As for his MMA career, Muhammad most recently fought Leon Edwards at UFC 304, where he secured an impressive unanimous decision victory to claim the welterweight title.
Muhammad was initially scheduled to defend his belt at UFC 310 against Shavkat Rakhmonov last December but withdrew from the bout due to injury.