“Teammates fasted with me”- Belal Muhammad details the experience of training during Ramadan
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Belal Muhammad
Belal Muhammad avenged the TKO loss from six years ago with a dominant victory over Vincente Luque in the headliner of UFC Vegas 51: Luque vs. Muhammad 2 event. It proved to the MMA world that he is one of the most underrated fighters in the division. Belal has climbed his way up the ladder in this deep division.
Beating the fighter who once beat him 5 years ago is a piece of evidence there is massive progress in Belal’s arsenal. Even more impressive, Belal committed to this fight camp during Ramadan, which means he was training multiple times a day while fasting. Furthermore, It inferred that Belal only had 2 meals a day, which is before daybreak and after sunrise. Clearly, the win would feel much sweeter considering he was able to be successful in his bout without actually having to break his Ramadan.
Belal Muhammad revealed his method of managing training while Ramadan
In an interview with Marc Raimondi for ESPN MMA, Belal stated, “You don’t know how hard you can push your body until you actually have to push your body. The first week of Ramadan, I got to spend it with my family, I had teammates that fasted with me, that pushed through with me, they’re like, ‘Yo, we’re gonna train with you.’ And they didn’t have too… We’re a small gym but we’re like a little family.”
While the evening meal, iftar, usually consists of festive meals, Muhammad was extremely diligent with what he consumed. Furthermore, he expressed to Raimondi, “So the day of the weigh-in and the day of the fight, I’m able to make those days up… The other days are just being very smart at night. Because you know a lot of Ramadan is, when it’s time to eat you eat whatever’s in front of you… A lot of people use it as an excuse to eat bad… For me it was more like eating smart.”
Belal was number 6 in the ranking prior to the fight, it will indulge him in the top 5. Chances of him being next in line for a title shot have also increased. This is very exciting for the fans and amusing for Belal as it opens up great matchups against him in such a deep division.
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