“Fired him because he was Arab…” Palestinian UFC star reveals father lost job and pension due to horrific 9/11 attack

Insights from Belal Muhammad's interview on Mike Perry's podcast reveal the impact of prejudice on his family and their resilience.

“Fired him because he was Arab…” Palestinian UFC star reveals father lost job and pension due to horrific 9/11 attack

Belal Muhammad's father lost job after 9/11 (Image via: Instagram)

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has made UFC fighters choose sides. Palestinian American Belal Muhammad is the most vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause in the UFC. Muhammad is the son of Palestinian immigrants but was born and raised in Chicago. Nonetheless, Muhammad is very active on social media to advocate for the Palestinian cause.

Muhammad was a recent guest on Mike Perry’s Overdog’s podcast. On the podcast, Muhammad revealed that his father lost his job when he was a child due to prejudice after the 9/11 attacks. This is what Muhammad said about it.

My dad used to work for the city of Chicago, and he got fired like a month after 9/11 happened because they were doing... And he was like a year away from getting his pension, but they fired him just because he was Arab. And he was like, 'I'm never gonna work for anybody or put that on anybody again. I'm only gonna work for myself.'
Belal Muhammad via Overdogs podcast
YouTube video

Belal Muhammad went on to state that his father motivated him and his brothers to have a self-made business. After his father lost his job, he started a cellphone store in Chicago. Unfortunately, BLM protestors looted and vandalized the store in 2020.

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Muhammad was the backup fighter at UFC 296 for the main event between Colby Covington and Leon Edwards. Dana White recently revealed that the UFC wants to book the fight between Edwards and Muhammad. White had earlier promised a title shot for Muhammad after he defeated Gilbert Burns at UFC 288.

Belal Muhammad reveals his favorite welterweight UFC fighter to watch

Palestinian UFC fighter Belal Muhammad currently has the second-longest active unbeaten streak at welterweight. Only the champion, Leon Edwards, has a longer streak. Muhammad revealed on the Overdogs podcast that the UFC is working on a date for his title fight with Edwards.

Belal Muhammad
Belal Muhammad (Image via Yahoo News)

In the podcast, Muhammad revealed his favorite welterweight fighter in the UFC. Muhammad named Carlos Condit as his favorite but admitted that Georges St-Pierre was the best UFC welterweight fighter ever. He stated that Condit’s fan-friendly style was the reason for his pick. Moreover, he also revealed that he was a fan of the style of UFC bantamweight Cory Sandhagen.

In an interview, Belal Muhammad revealed that the fight between Jorge Masvidal and Lorenz Larkin was his favorite fight to watch. Muhammad also stated that Islam Makhachev was the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Muhammad had trained with Makhachev in the past, particularly for his fight against Sean Brady at UFC 280.

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