“You Probably Have to Have Security…” Kamaru Usman Warns Belal Muhammad of Potential Clash at UFC 315

Former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman warns current champ Belal Muhammad of potential altercation at UFC 315 PPV event.

“You Probably Have to Have Security…” Kamaru Usman Warns Belal Muhammad of Potential Clash at UFC 315

UFC 315: Kamaru Usman warns Belal Muhammad of potential altercation (Source: X/IMAGO)

Things have been sour between current champ Belal Muhammad and former divisional king Kamaru Usman for a while now. Muhammad puts his title to the test at the UFC 315 PPV event headliner, this weekend in Montreal, Canada. The ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ will keep a close eye on the state of the division and the PPV title fallout.

Kamaru Usman hasn’t been in active contention since UFC 294 vs. Khamzat Chimaev. Usman is set to return to 170 pounds when he takes on Joaquin Buckley at UFC Atlanta on June 14th. Moreover, he wants to play spoiler to the new champ’s dream of staying a champ. It’s unclear if he will attend the UFC 315 card, but the legendary fighter has doused some fiery warnings for Belal Muhammad.

Probably, yeah… [Yeah, You …have to have security. Would be needed if we were backstage]. I say that only because, obviously, I’m very level headed and especially when I’m outside of the cage but for the last almost two years now, I haven’t been in the thick of it, …Now that I’m back in the thick of it, yeah, you’d probably have to have security back there with us.

Kamaru Usman to ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto (@ESPNMMA)

Usman has been away from the game for a while. He now co-hosts “Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru Usman & Henry Cejudo” Podcast. After constant snubbing from top 170-pounders, new champ Belal Muhammad took his villain role to heart. “Bully Belal” seems to have asserted dominance over the ‘full-time podcaster’ during a hidden podcast episode.

Belal Muhammad has PPV backup fighter Ian Machado Garry to worry about, but thinks the former champ is a bigger legacy name to skip the contention chain. With Usman now back in contention, Muhammad believes that beating Buckley would allow him to move up. This would potentially put an end to their feud with one fight. Usman, though, has not liked the discourse all that much.

Kamaru Usman explains where his dislike for new welterweight champ Belal Muhammad stems from

With a 15-3 UFC stat, the former champ Kamaru Usman has angled for a big return for a while. Muhammad, on his part, juggled between legacy name Usman and 170-pound top seed Shavkat Rakhmonov for a prize matchup. Hence, the duo has traded banter for a while now.

Kamaru Usman doesn't prefer the champ's new bold mentality
Kamaru Usman doesn’t prefer the champ’s new bold mentality (Source: X)

Things took a turn when Belal Muhammad boasted about systematically breaking down Usman on his own podcast. The champ later said he gloated about taking Leon Edwards’ fabled ‘head-shot dead’ kick better than Usman at the July PPV main event at Co-op Live in Manchester. Usman, for his part, said the champ did not just stretch a rivalry too far with him. That was exactly what set him off about him.

Belal just seems to be a different type of champion who’s willing to make memes, he’s willing to get on Twitter, social media, because he wants the attention, …He craves that attention. Even if you’re a lightweight, even if you’re a guy that’s a flyweight who’s not in the division, he’s willing to have that back-and-forth with you. And for me, I just find it a little bit distasteful, and I wasn’t a part of it…And once he became champion, he started to come at me with that energy, it was like, ‘Oh, you have a problem with me? ‘

Kamaru Usman further said

After his 2021 Poke NC, Edwards and others discredited Muhammad’s struggles and win streaks while flaunting their own. He had gone through a murderer’s row of top names like Gilbert Burns, Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque, Demian Maia, and Sean Brady (Round-two TKO). Hence came the villainous overturn with the champ now running his mouth anywhere, everywhere.

It is something that Kamaru Usman does not like. However, said overturn has not helped Muhammad drive up the bargain at all. Seemingly, he has other concerns than Nigerian Nightmare for the UFC 315 PPV card.

Bullied Belal? UFC 315 PPV ticket sales in the dump days before the title fight at Montreal

The UFC 315 pay-per-view (PPV) event for Saturday (May 10., 2025) is down in the gutter and only half sold! A 170-pound title fight caps the PPV event; Belal Muhammad meets Jack Della Maddalena in the main event. Meanwhile, Valentina Shevchenko makes a first defense of her second WMMA flyweight reign vs. Manon Fiorot.

Belal Muhammad's appeal not a big sell for UFC 315 PPV
Belal Muhammad’s appeal not a big sell for UFC 315 PPV (Source: X)

Muhammad’s slow-running infamy has done no good to the Bell Centre event in Montreal, Quebec. No offense to tactile standup and ‘Canelo Hands,’ but the champ touts 18 decisions in 24 of his last UFC competition outings. That includes 7 decisions in 8 fights, barring a Brady-shaped second-round TKO.

This is a bad setup towards sluggish PPV sales in the recent past. UFC Execs are not happy with ESPN (ESPN+, Hulu SVOD, ESPN & ESPN Deportes) streaming “sh*tting the bed” with staunch $79.99 control buy costs but poor quality. Meanwhile, ESPN isn’t happy with the quality of PPV offerings put up by the premier promotion.

Some super fights are dangling. A brand champ (Alex Pereira) recently lost his good and much of his aura. The zenith brand division is in a stall, and the champ is missing. Other champs like Muhammad aren’t helping drive it up. Low live gate sales say a lot about the middling quality of the card. It could also mean PPV buy rates will be in the gutter as well. Things aren’t looking good without a change in guard.

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