Nobody was more surprised to see Colby Covington weigh in as the backup for UFC 286’s main event than one of the division’s top contenders.
In the early hours of Friday morning, fighters stepped on the scale for their official weigh-in ahead of Saturday’s highly anticipated return to the O2 Arena in London. In the main event of the evening, Leon Edwards will attempt to defend his UFC welterweight championship against former titleholder and the man he took it from, Kamaru Usman. Both competitors successfully made weight for the evening’s headliner, but that wasn’t the biggest story coming out of the weigh-ins.
Fans were stunned to see Colby Covington step on the scale after more than a year away from the Octagon. ‘Chaos’ made weight while acting as the official backup for Edwards vs. Usman III. His presence at the event quickly drew the ire of Belal Muhammad. ‘Remember the Name’ responded to the revelation, revealing that Covington had seemingly turned down a fight with him at UFC 286.
“He turns down a fight on the same card so he can weigh in and not have to fight,” Muhammad tweeted.
Only falls thru on Colby’s end lol pic.twitter.com/pOF7cilIVb
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) March 16, 2023
He turns down a fight on the same card so he can weigh in and not have to fight https://t.co/D4lVqABH1n
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) March 17, 2023
Belal Muhammad Shows Frustration Over Perceived Disrespect Amid Inclusion of Colby Covington at UFC 286
Sitting in the No. 4 spot in the welterweight rankings, many consider Belal Muhammad the next man in line for a 170-pound title opportunity. Yet when the conversation comes up, the focus is continuously put on some of the division’s more popular, albeit less deserving names.
Muhammad shared his frustration on Twitter in response to a segment on The MMA Hour. Host Ariel Helwani was asked who he believes will be next in line for a title opportunity once UFC 286 is in the books. Helwani primarily focused on names like Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal, and Khamzat Chimaev, largely omitting Muhammad’s name from the conversation.
“Lol when I say the hate is real…Leon was on an 8 fight streak last win being Nate diaz he was preaching for him to get the title shot ..I’m on an 8 fight streak with 4 ranked wins last one coming against a 15-0 prospect but now it’s “ man no one’s really making sense for next,” Muhammad tweeted.
Lol when I say the hate is real…Leon was on an 8 fight streak last win being Nate diaz he was preaching for him to get the title shot ..I’m on an 8 fight streak with 4 ranked wins last one coming against a 15-0 prospect but now it’s “ man no one’s really making sense for next https://t.co/ZxJPKxbuHb
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) March 16, 2023
‘Remember the Name’ is currently riding an eight-fight win streak, including wins over Demian Maia, Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thomspon, and Vicente Luque. In his last appearance, Muhammad scored a second-round knockout against previously undefeated welterweight standout Sean Brady at UFC 280.
Covington's weigh in today may have been a surprise to the public, but I'm told both Edwards and Usman knew about it a while ago.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 17, 2023
