A war of words is escalating rather rapidly on social media between Belal Muhammad and Conor McGregor after the former’s unfortunate withdrawal from UFC 310.
Muhammad was due to put his 170-pound gold on the line against Shavkat Rakhmonov this December, but a serious foot injury has scuppered those plans. The welterweight title fight was planned for UFC 310 in Las Vegas, but a bone infection in Muhammad’s foot has derailed the main event, and now many are wondering if an interim title will be at stake, or if an entirely new headliner is on the horizon.
Upon hearing this news, McGregor, who has history with Muhammad, and who also had to withdraw from a scheduled fight this year due to an injured toe, took to social media to react to a post which the welterweight champion made to update his fans, with two laughing emojis.
Muhammad posted a video of his arm with an IV needle in it from his hospital bed, along with the caption: “Caught a bone infection in my foot, had to put a picc line in my arm for iv antibiotics the next six weeks with no physical activity. Allah’s plan is the best plan. I’m sorry to everyone who come to see me. I’ll be back soon inshAllah.”
In response to McGregor’s taunt, which has since been deleted, Muhammad held nothing back with a savage reply that read: “I have this for antibiotics, you use needles because you are junkie. We are not the same.”
Muhammad earned the UFC welterweight title by defeating Leon Edwards back at UFC 304. He’s unbeaten over his last 11 fights, including recent wins over former title challengers Gilbert Burns and Stephen Thompson.
While Muhammad has been active, McGregor has not set foot inside the Octagon since snapping his leg against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. He’s targeting a return to the cage in 2025, however, as he looks to snap a recent losing skid of defeats in three of his last four fights.
Belal Muhammad’s professional MMA record (as of 01/11/24) | ||
|---|---|---|
28 fights | 24 wins | 3 losses |
By knockout | 5 | 1 |
By submission | 1 | 0 |
By decision | 18 | 2 |
No contests | 1 | |
History of Beef Between McGregor & Muhammad
The two clearly don’t like each other
There seems to be plenty of bad blood between McGregor and anybody connected with his hated rival, Khabib Nurmagomedov. Muhammad is an understudy of Khabib, which explains why him and the Irishman don’t see eye to eye. McGregor has also previously spoken about his desire to take on Muhammad in the welterweight division.
“I’d love to crush my left hook into Belal’s temple and take down the triple crown,” McGregor commented in a now-deleted tweet on X last month. “I’d do it easily. And fast! I’d cave his skull heavy! The hurdles I face getting back to the Octagon are just harrowing. I am so sad over my June 29th fight cancelation. To think this bum (Belal Muhammad) is now a UFC champion with zero knockdowns on his resume whatsoever is so bad. The UFC’s most abysmal zero revenue generating fighter in modern history.”
Muhammad’s scheduled opponent for UFC 310, Shavkat Rakhmonov, was a lot kinder than McGregor when he heard of the withdrawal.
“Wishing Belal a quick recovery,” Rakhmonov wrote on X. “We’ll meet when you’re back at 100%. For now, I’m ready to take on any contender for the interim title at #UFC310.”