There is a moment in these fights that he really likes. It does not come in all fights, but quite often. And when this is the case, there is no feeling like that.
“You see him in their eyes,” said Belal Muhammad, the UFC Welter weight champion who defends his title against the challenger Jack Della Maddalena UFC 315 Saturday in Montreal. “They break, and you see it. They simply no longer have this fire in their eyes. You see that this light is starting to decrease. They lose hope. “
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This, for Muhammad, is one of the best parts. It is better than landing a clean blow that separates an adversary from his conscience, better than forcing him to draw from a strangulation which will soon put him to sleep. These require skills and timing and perhaps a little luck.
But breaking a person is removing their will. He participated in this determined and motivated competition, absolutely certain that he would accept nothing less than victory. Then, by pressure and rhythm and implacable attacks, you gradually change your mind for him.
He felt it in his last fight, when he won the title of the UFC 170 pounds from Leon Edwards via a unanimous decision at the UFC 304 last summer.
“I felt it with Leon just after the second round,” said Muhammad. “I saw him and I felt it. Even in the third round when he had my back, I could feel that he was just holding for the expensive life, just trying to get out of the tower. But there was no longer this fire in him. I knew when the fire was out. So in the fourth round, when I did.”
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For a Muhammad trends fighter, it is both the most pleasant and most likely path to victory. He does not have the devastating power at a blow that other UFC champions are. It is not an ace of submissions. He obtained more than three times more victories per decision than via KO or TKO.
What he has is determination, resilience and cardio. He never stops manifesting himself and never lets go. Which, against a striking fighter like Della Maddalena, who is long on technical skills in the standing but short game on experience in these slow and crushing attrition battles, could make all the difference.
“He has only one path to victory,” said Muhammad about the challenger. “He has only one way to win the fight, and it is with his hands and with his shot. For me, I see a guy that I will break. Another guy who, when he puts himself in the end of the water with me, he will realize that I am different. He never fought anyone.
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It is a big fight for Muhammad, and for more reasons than those obvious represented by this gold belt in its hand luggage. For years, he has been in a disorderly, grainy and dragged struggle for acceptance. He made 10 fights and five years without just loss to obtain his first crack during a UFC title. Many fans felt sure he would lose. Then, when he won the title, they felt sure he would lose it as soon as he had to defend him.
Belal Muhammad defends his Welter weight title for the first time at UFC 315 in Montreal on Saturday, and there is more on the line than the belt. (Reuters / John Sibley)
(Reuters / Reuters)
At the time when the undefeated competitor Shavkat Rakhmonov was his first opponent probably, Muhammad was the clear oppressed. In fact, this fight with Della Maddalena is the first time in four years that he has been fighting as a favorite of betting. It seems that it does not matter what he is doing or the number of fights he wins, people find it difficult to believe in him. It has been going on for so long that he has actually been used to it now.
“People still doubt me,” said Muhammad. “People always hate me whatever happens. So, in the eyes of the fans, they will always tell me that I do not deserve it. I know I'm the champion. I know I'm the best in the world. It took me a long road to get here, but I got it. I won it and I did it until I can't deny myself.
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The uncertainty about its place at the top sometimes even seems to come from inside the house. A friend and sometimes partner of Islam Makhachev training is awaiting the result of Muhammad's fight to determine if he should leave his light UFC title and go up a division to challenge a second belt. If Muhammad remains the champion, Makhachev is likely to stay in his own weight category so as not to face a friend, at least it is thought. But if Muhammad loses? Well, Makhachev seemed to want to keep her options open.
It's a bit annoying, coming from someone with whom Muhammad shared the training room carpets with the past. This is not exactly like the strongest vote of friends, which is funny because confidence is a thing that Muhammad himself certainly does not miss.
“I have already said to these guys, there is nothing to wait, right?” Said Muhammad. “I will win this fight.
Do they listen? Do they still believe it? Or will he have to nail another skin on the wall to assert his point of view?
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Perhaps the best question is the extent to which it is important. As much as Muhammad got used to being doubted and neglected, either because he is not scary or rather beloved, or quite loved, you have the impression that he does not like him.
In many ways, it is one of the most accessible UFC champions. He is active and engaged on social networks. It feels more part of the Fandom and the conversation during MMA than most other fighters. This makes it appear both more relatable and also somehow less untouchable. Fans do not completely worship him as they make other UFC champions. It is as if they were still on the fence, unconvinced that this man who seems in many ways like an ordinary guy could be the best welfo weight in the world.
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Muhammad hears them. This is the thing about being part of the conversation. He is too aware of the number of people who still do not buy him, even with the belt in his possession.
“It's on me, right?” He said. “I have to prove it myself with more victories. So that's what I'm going to do. “
The road to the title was long and rocky, but he finally reached the end. Now comes the frantic struggle to justify and gain its place at the top of the mountain. And the dark cliffs below are dotted with eyes that look at his fall.
