Belal Muhammad

Overview

Twelve of Belal Muhammad's fifteen UFC wins went to the scorecards, and four of those wins came against elite opponents. Muhammad is a welterweight out of Chicago who is 15-6 in the UFC with one no contest, and he is not the champion. He carries a three-fight losing streak into his next fight, all three by decision.

Two knockouts, one submission, twelve decisions.

UFC Career

Muhammad debuted in July 2016 with a unanimous decision loss to Alan Jouban. He won his next one, a third-round TKO of Augusto Montano, then lost in 1:19 of the first round to Vicente Luque. That is the only time he has been finished in the UFC.

He rebuilt with four straight decisions, over Randy Brown, Jordan Mein, Tim Means (split) and Chance Rencountre, before a decision loss to Geoff Neal in January 2019. Then came his longest win streak, six in a row. Curtis Millender and Lyman Good fell on the cards, Takashi Sato by submission in the third round, and Dhiego Lima went the distance too.

His first main event, against Leon Edwards in March 2021, ended in a no contest in round 2. He kept winning afterward: Demian Maia, Stephen Thompson, a five-round main event decision over Luque, a second-round TKO of Sean Brady and a five-round decision over Gilbert Burns. In July 2024 he beat Edwards over five rounds at UFC 304.

Since then the results have turned. He lost a five-round main event to Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315, then a three-round decision to Ian Machado Garry and a five-round main event decision to Gabriel Bonfim. All three opponents were rated elite by our model.

Three losses in a row. None of them were finishes.

Fighting Style

Muhammad is a busy striker who also works for takedowns more than most. He throws and lands at a high volume, and he is very hard to take down himself. Defensively and in accuracy he sits right around the UFC average.

He rarely hunts for submissions, so his grappling is about control, not finishing.

That fits his results. He has three finishes in his UFC career, none in the first round. Both TKOs came in rounds 2 and 3, and his one submission came in round 3. Twelve of his 15 wins have gone to the scorecards.

Notable Wins

• Leon Edwards — unanimous decision, round 5, UFC 304 (2024)
• Gilbert Burns — unanimous decision, round 5, UFC 288 (2023)
• Vicente Luque — unanimous decision, round 5, UFC Fight Night: Luque vs. Muhammad (2022)
• Demian Maia — unanimous decision, round 3, UFC 263 (2021)

Quick Facts

• Division: Welterweight
• UFC record: 15-6 (1 no contest)
• Professional record, all promotions: 24-6-0 (1 NC)
• UFC debut: 2016
• Stance: Orthodox
• Reach: 72", height 5'11"
• Team: Roufusport (Milwaukee, WI) and Chicago Fight Team (Chicago, IL)
• Born: Chicago, IL, United States