Belal Muhammad relishes shot to avenge KO loss to Vicente Luque despite Ramadan fast

LAS VEGAS — It’s not much of a stretch to say that Saturday’s bout against Vicente Luque at Apex is the biggest of Belal Muhammad’s MMA career.

Muhammad is ranked sixth at welterweight, down a spot in the official UFC rankings from five last week to accommodate Khamzat Chimaev’s arrival into the top five following his win over Gilbert Burns at UFC 273.

Luque is a spot ahead of Muhammad at No. 5.

Even for one so close to the top as Muhammad, the path to the title is tricky. Champion Kamaru Usman’s next defense is going to be against No. 2 Leon Edwards, UFC president Dana White said. Chimaev, now at No. 3, will likely meet No. 1 Colby Covington.

Burns sits at No. 4.

There is quality depth at the top of the welterweight division, which means losses are killers more so than usual because they put a fighter on a much longer road. Muhammad is convinced he’ll be the champion one day, but if he beats Luque, he’ll still have to beat someone else in the top five to even get consideration.

“Huge fight for me, no doubt,” Muhammad said.

But as Muhammad prepares, he’s also observing the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Part of observing Ramadan includes fasting and prohibits eating between sunrise and sunset.

For a fighter trying to build his body into fight-ready condition while also preparing for a weight cut, it’s a difficult enough proposition as is. But having to fast during daylight hours only adds to the complexity.

“For me, it’s hard but I’ve done it for multiple camps already so I kind of have it down to putting the right stuff in when it’s time to eat,” Muhammad said. “When I break my fast at 7 at night, it’s like when I’m finishing my weight cut. I have to put the right foods in and get the right stuff in so I can perform and do well the next day at practice. White rice, white potatoes, stuff that digests quickly. But you have to be careful because you don’t want to ruin your weight cut, as well.”

The fight Saturday is a rematch of a 2018 match at Madison Square Garden. Luque knocked him out with a left hook and a quick ground-and-pound.

It was the second loss in three fights for Muhammad in the UFC after he’d opened his career 9-0. He got caught by a punch, and it can happen to anyone, but it came at a terrible time for him.

It’s one thing to be an established veteran with a record of success and to drop two of three. But Muhammad was still unproven at the game’s highest level.

He moved on, but desperately wanted a rematch. When he got the call for the fight, he couldn’t have said yes any more quickly, even though the fight came during Ramadan and would complicate matters.

“I always tell myself, 'I’m not going to [fight during Ramadan] this time! I’m not going to do it this time!’” he said. “This one was weird. They were calling me for fights in March, then they were calling me and then it was the beginning of April. They were like, ‘Do you want to fight him? Do you want to fight him? Do you want to fight him?’ I was like, ‘Yes. Yes. Yes.’ But they kept switching it up.

“At first they said, ‘OK, you and Luque,’ but they didn’t have a date on there. Then they called me back and said, ‘OK, it’s you and Luque, April 16. Main event.’ All I heard was Luque and main event and I was like, ‘Let’s go!’ I didn’t think about the date or anything. It was just the name and the fight I wanted.”

Muhammad has morphed into one of the best fighters in the world. His brothers always would tell him he’d be champion, and they could never understand why he wasn’t getting bigger fights as he was on the climb.

But since losing to Geoff Neal in 2019, he’s gone 6-0 with a no-contest and has established himself as a force in the division.

As he eyes the ultimate prize, it was some sort of karma to have the guy immediately ahead of him be the one that he wanted to fight most.

He’s evolved since then and thinks Saturday’s bout, in which he's a +155 underdog at BetMGM, will be its own match with no carryover impact from the last one.

“I don’t like to overthink things,” he said. “I’m a whole different fighter [than I was in 2018]. I had to go through that to get to where I am today. I don’t think he read this or that. I just got caught and with four-ounce gloves, it happens. But in the end, looking back at it and looking at the trolls who always post it and send it to me, it does nothing but motivate me. I’ve come a long way since that fight.”