Say it to my face! Alexander Volkanovski unimpressed by ‘pathetic’ Belal Muhammad after UFC 304 critique

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Quite a few beefs emerged at UFC 304, but Belal Muhammad vs. Alexander Volkanovski may be the strangest of them all.

It all started when “The Great” offered to be back up for the UFC 304 main event, expressing interest in jumping up in weight should the opportunity present itself. Volkanovski was already in Manchester, and the former Featherweight kingpin has fought at 170 lbs. before, so it wasn’t the worst idea of all time if disaster struck. In particular, Volkanovski liked his odds against Muhammad, who ended up dethroning Leon Edwards in the main event.

Though Volkanovski was respectful enough in his analysis, Muhammad took issue with the comments. Speaking on the Anik & Florian Podcast, Muhammad clapped back at the Australian, threatening to “smack the hell” out of Volkanovski and claiming that nobody in the UFC could beat him.

Volkanovski isn’t impressed by the trash talk. He stood his ground on social media, writing back to Muhammad that he still believes he’s the better man and daring Muhammad to talk trash in person.

“[Belal Muhammad] you have every reason to hate on what I said about you being a good stylistic match up for me,” Volkanovski wrote on social media. “But I truly believe that, even after your last fight, you didn’t show me anything different. You still mad because I accidentally missed your call … pathetic! Say ‘shut up, I’ll smack the shit out of you’ to my face and see what happens.”

What’s interesting here is that Volkanovski and Muhammad are two of the most tactical champions in recent memory. Both are known for their abilities to switch up their game plans and adjust to their opponents. Size difference aside, it would be really interesting to see the approaches of each man if they were to fight.

It won’t happen, of course. Volkanovski is likely to jump back into the Featherweight pool sooner than later, whereas Muhammad is planning to defend his title for the first time near the end of 2024. Shavkat Rakhmonov is the current frontrunner for the next Wetlerweight title shot.

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