Daniel Cormier TVDaniel Cormier TV - DC Check-In with Belal Muhammad at UFC 288: "I'm the best fighter in the world... I'll dominate [Burns] and make it look easy"
Belal Muhammad tells Daniel Cormier a win over Gilbert Burns at UFC 288 means his next fight has to be for a championship. And Belal gives DC the insight on how he's going to defeat Gilbert Burns on Saturday May 6th. Plus, don't miss Belal "Remember the Name" reveal how he was able to train for this massive fight while fasting during Ramadan! #Volume
Anyway, come up with them, George.
Man, you gotta be able to play if you gonna wear George's well, all, come up.
With them, George.
I know you guys saw it on the embedded when I did what I did.
That's ian, Bro, he ain't got to left feet. You can't play little basketball. How you gonna be six to five in kids? Shoot the basketball?
Bro? He was like, oh, man, I used to play in ice calls. All right, let's let's try it out.
Went on there.
I was like, Bro, He's like, yeah, I mean DC used to play all the time. Like, now I know why DC sucks.
Wait, Bro, you think I sucked, but my team beat your team every time.
Bro, you gave me Buckley Buckley. Buckley got you let feet and.
Buckley followed too much.
But sometimes the game would get stupid, right, everybody arguing so much, nobody playing.
Yeah, that's why I started getting next time we need a rap?
Why do games turn into that all the time?
That's how it always is. It's just competitiveness, you know, and guys always calling his.
Random cause get I'm gonna let you keep this.
Maybe next time we do a three point contest because I hit you with them you had me feeling good about myself out there when I hit you with the reverse layup.
At least that big.
That was nast that but I did it like MJ whll. I came up on one side of the rim, went up under.
Him like yeah, yeah hey. Louis is like yeah, I was there. Taylor was like, yep, I remember that DC.
I remember that save Russell UFC two eighty eight. You're fighting against Gilbert Burns. So this fight came together very quickly. Was this one that was on the radar? But I know, you guys share the same manager, and I know it's like you guys, you know, don't like to fight each other and everything, But was this one that was.
On the radar?
I mean, I like to fight everybody. For me, it ain't management group or not manage a group. Are not on the same team. Yeah, And if you're in the top five, you're on my radar. So for me, it was like waiting and sitting there and I was like, who's gonna be next? And we were talking about tomorrow, Wisman, They're giving me these.
Names, that's another dates.
Yeah, there was like oh maybe August, maybe July, And I'm like, all right, well, where's burns at? Oh, well he may be next in life for the title. I'm like, this don't make any sense, Like I'm not getting my shot. And then I saw this opening and I'm like, you're gonna give me this opportunity, I'm gonna take it. So I knew I had to take it. I knew how to jump on it because beating him, there's nobody else after that.
I'm fighting for the belt. So I was open about deserving. I think you deserve.
But then Dana came back and was like, well, DC, don't make those decisions, which I don't. But I was just kind of like, you know, what you've done is proven that you're very close. So when you looked at this one, was it just man, there's no denying if I do this.
That's what it was. It was like, I appreciate you having my back because the's a lot of these guys weren't smart enough or they were trying to, you know, play the narrative that this guy deserved that guy deserve it, but you're being honest. I'm the only one in the division that deserves it. I'm the one who worked the hardest. But deserving it is not the same as taking it this week, and I'm gonna have to take it. Because you can sit there and be, oh, I did this, I did this. You cry about it, or could go out there and get.
Do something about it.
I'm gonna do it.
You know, he's a tough he's a tough guy, and you guys are fighting five rounds. He had You got this fight on three weeks notice. Was there any hesitation to take a five run fight a post to three against the guy that just came out of training camp and he admitted himself his last fight, while he did go fifteen minutes, it wasn't necessarily hard, right, so he got a full training camp in a fight that he pretty much controlled.
He didn't really lose anything.
Did you have any hesitation in taking a five round fighter post a three round fight.
I wanted the five round fight because you asked for that. I asked for the five round fight because this is my moment. This is this fight should be a championship fight where two are the best in the world, and I'm a championship fighter and I have to go out there at any moment if I could be a champion, I have to fight five rounds at any moment, anytime, step up to show the UFC, to show the world that I'm gonna be there champion. I'm gonna show you guys that. It doesn't matter how many how many weeks.
Notice.
It's like if he walked up to my door and knocked to my door and said, hey, you want to fight. I'm not gonna sit there and like, hold on how many rounds? Let me let me train real quick, let me see where my cardio is at. Nah, you want to fight, Let's go to the Parking fight. And that's what this weekend is.
But Low, I wanted to ask you this because we had all these questions when the fight got announced. You're in Ramadan, Like, so, how do you train when you're not really taking any intake during the day, or do they have any exemptions because I would imagine there's some exemptions for you to prepare yourself for something that's big.
Now for me, I think that was one of the biggest keys for me taking the fight. Is I knew that.
Because I know he'll be in Islam and they never fought during Ramadann. Yeah, you just didn't do it for me.
I think mentally during that I'm in a different spot. Mentally, my strength is like I'm doing stuff that other people aren't doing. I know that he's training and he's drinking water. Me I'm training. I'm not drinking water. I'm not going home to eating, and that uncomfortability is gonna make me that much stronger. I know that my mindset above my shoulders, I'm the strongest I could ever be. I don't care what the underneath the shoulders matters, like I don't care where my physical is because I know my mental is strong because it gives a fourth and five fifth round. That's where your heart and will and you know, balls coming to play a factor. And I know that I have more than that than anybody in the division.
And through the fasting, you're gaining clarity, right Like, if I can get through this, if I can fast from sun up to sundown and still prepare for this, what can stop me? There's got to be something to that where you're like, man, because Ryan and I were talking about this on our show, and I'm like, man, he's having the.
Too fast And we don't really know your religion that well, so we're all kind of guessing. Yeah, everybody's guessing.
That's why I wanted to ask you, like, are there any exemptions for you to eat during the day?
Are you still just kind of prepared in that way.
No, No, I'm not eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset. So I'm waking up at four am right before sunrise. I'm getting in the right carbs, in the right drinks and making sure that I get the right amount of liquid. And so I train at ten am, not having any water, not having any food. Then I train again at six pm, not having any water, any food. I go home at seven thirty. That's when I could replenish, get your peel back in there. But I just have to be smart with everything has to be the right stuff that I'm putting back into my system so I could be able to work the next day. And I think I have it down to a science now where people are gonna be like, bro, this guy needs to write a book of what he's doing, how he doing it? How did he do this? That's what they're gonna be saying Saturday night.
After you're done.
Well, It's like that won't be the first time because in this Sean Brady fight, everybody's like whoa who is this right?
Like, who's this Bala Muhammed.
What allowed for you to make that big a jump or And I don't think that it was a question of your skills, because you've always been supremely skilled. But in that fight, you showed a comfortable comfortability on the feet that we hadn't seen. You literally just pieced this dude up. What allowed for.
You to make that jump? What allowed for you to set yourself free to perform at that level.
I think that people just don't understand how good I am everywhere. I go into every fight with a different game plan and different style. I'm evolving every fight. If I fight a grappler, I'm gonna strike with you. If I fight a striker, or I'm gonna.
Grapple with you.
I'm not that guy that has to do this or has to do that every fight. You're gonna be wondering what I'm gonna do Saturday night. Giveb Burn doesn't know what I'm gonna bring to the table, he said, And there like, man, why do you want five rounds? Man? Is he gonna russell? Is he gonna strike? He's gonna do this? He there's unknown for him. I know what he's gonna bring to the table. He comes to the same fight every single time. He's good at it, but I'm better at everything else. Yeah, and I'm better at understanding your strategy. This is a game of chess, not checkers. So Sean Brady came in there thinking, Oh, this is gonna be easy. Everybody was talking about it. Everybody's hyping them off fifteen to oh. I go out there, I finish him and it's like, ah, well he's not as good as we thought he was. Sean Brady sucks.
That's just to pass you off a little bit, though, right, it does.
It makes me mad.
But do you use that as fuel?
So much fuel? I got that chip on my shoulder this weekend when I beat Giver Burns. What are they gonna say. There's nothing they could say, man, Wait, you took it a tweet. Wait give it Burns, given should have got haircut.
No, I don't know.
They're not gonna say nothing, right, they say nothing you like?
Do you like that, though? Do you like having that chip? You like carrying that chip? Do you like having people doubt you so you can go and prove them wrong?
Yeah? Of course, that's what makes me go harder, That's what makes me want work. Harder, right, Like, I'll sit there and be in my house thinking about this fight every single day, like I'm dreaming eating I'm living this sport. That's why, at any moment I could take this fight because I know there's so many people out there that need to prove wrong. There's many people out there that could prove right, but the ones that want to prove wrong, those mean more to me.
You know.
So Gilbert Burns is a super high level grappler. At the end of the day, fir, as good as you look in the Brady fight, you want to wrestle.
That's what you do. How do you cause? You know, like you know, I got my gilga. You wrestled.
That's that terrible high school you.
So god bugan high school? What's good?
Baby?
You want to wrestle?
Can you use that against Gilbert Burns when he's so dangerous on the ground?
I can. People don't understand how good I am everywhere. The guys I trained with are good everywhere, and I could play that game.
Bro.
I sat there with you know, the best in the world, grapple with the best in the world. You haven't been on top of you wrestling with those guys and if you can wrestle and grapple with those guys like a right grapple with anybody else. I think people had that fear of I don't want to go to the ground with Gilbert Burns. What is it gonna do when you're getting wh He's gonna punch in the face, you know the old saying black belt gets punching the face. He's a brown belt, brown belt punching the face. He's a purple belt. Like to me, it's having that confidence that I could go anywhere this fight wants to go.
They say the wrestling base kills jiu jitsu. You feel like that your base is gonna just kill all that scrambling.
Everything exactly because I could take this fight wherever, go where I wanted to go. He's gonna sit there and be like, man, I hope he shoots on me, or he's gonna try to pull guard, or he's gonna wonder. I want to get the best grappler in the world in Damian Maya. And he didn't do nothing with me on the ground. He took Gilbert down, mounted him. Gilbert knocked him out, but he mounted him, had him in bad spots.
Where does Gilbert present problems for you.
He doesn't, Like I said, I think I'm the best fighter in the top five right now, best fighter in the world. And then Saturday night, when I go out there and I dominate him, make it look easy, people are gonna be wondering, like, all right, maybe we'll clasp him this time, we'll give him a little clap.
Yeah, because I don't know what this.
I don't know what this, uh, this unwillingness to accept you is. I don't know what that is. I don't I don't get him because even like your show.
Remember the show It's Fun.
Yeah, I got a pair of George off that show, like you, You're You're a fun guy. You're on you know, television, You've done all so many things. I kind of feel like a lot of it is like what I went through. I swear it's very similar. Yeah, It's like this, this desire to not accept you until they can't do anything but accept you, and then you start to turn them.
It is so rewarding.
Yeah, honestly, that's what I do. I love like, I'm always a fan of the sport, Like you said, thinking of you. Even after that Anna still fight, you were getting booed but you accepted that fight out a couple of days. Notice, it's like, Bro, that's a legend right there, Like how you guys are gonna do this guy right now? But like you said, they eventually like, all right, we like DC. DC's kind of funny. Yea, he's cool and I think that's what's kind of like the same road that I'm taking.
Yeah, and it'll happen, Yeah, because you're a cool dude. Lord, you the man. Bro. You love this weekend man, Guys, ask men the tickets.
There is no app better than Game Time. All you gotta do download the Game Time, put the.
Promo code DCTV.
We'll give you twenty dollars off of your first purchase. So al Jamaine Sterling versus Henry si Hudo. You might be able to get them tickets at a discounting price. The NBA Playoffs, NHL Playoffs, comedy shows, concerts. It don't matter where you are or where you live, get out and have some fun.
Use the Game Time a to do.
It promo code DCTV the twenty dollars off of your first purchase. UFC two eighty eight co Main Events bal Mohammed versus Gilbert burns. Balmahammed took this fight on very short notice, but if you listen to his words, he's as prepared as he's ever been to go out there and make a statement and tell you he is a number one contender at wal to weight. Make sure you tap in watch these guys fight five rounds from the Crudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Until next time, Like subscribe, go follow a bully, be everywhere on his social media, and make sure you tell your friend to tell one of their friends that DC has a YouTube channel and I'm doing stuff like checking in with guys like balal Mohammed.
Till next time, guys, Peace in the
