Belal Muhammad: Head Kick Reference on Podcast Triggered Kamaru Usman Beef

Belal Muhammad recently revealed his version of what went down between him and Kamaru Usman during a podcast.

Muhammad (24-3) and Usman (20-4) have recently been engaged in a public beef, a big part of which seemingly resulted from their encounter on a podcast. They haven’t really been on cordial terms since Usman criticized Muhammad for refusing to fight his friend Islam Makhachev. Muhammad responded by slamming Usman’s title reign and said the former champ is washed up.

The two then met on a podcast which Usman shares with Henry Cejudo and things went further down hill. According to Muhammad, he went on the podcast at the behest of his manager Ali Abdelaziz, who also manages Usman. Muhammad claims he was talking about his title reign when Usman started asserting himself as a former champ too. Muhammad then mocked Usman’s head kick knockout loss against Leon Edwards, which “The Nigerian Nightmare” didn’t receive well. Cejudo allegedly had to intervene to stop the confrontation from getting physical.

“Usman’s like, ‘I was a champ too.’ And [I said], ‘Yeah but you’re not the champ anymore,’” Muhammad said on the Full Send podcast. “And then he just couldn’t let it go… He was like ‘anything you do I do better than you.’ And then I was like ‘but you didn't take the head kick better than me.’ And I think that just triggered him. He was like ‘I don't play these games man, it's on sight when people talk like that.’ And I was like, ‘We're right in front of each other. On sight?’… Henry Cejudo twisted his ankle, had to break it up.”

Usman is on a three-fight skid and hasn’t fought since a middleweight decision loss against Khamzat Chimaev in 2023. The former champ is set to return against Joaquin Buckley (21-6) at UFC on ESPN 69 on June 14 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

Meanwhile, Muhammad is unbeaten in 11 straight outings, topped off by his title win against Edwards last year. “Remember the Name” is set to defend his crown for the first time against Jack Della Maddalena (17-2) at UFC 315 on May 10 at Bell Centre in Montreal.