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No. 13 ranked welterweight Belal Muhammad put on a dominant performance during the preliminary card of UFC 258 on Saturday night. “Remember the Name” took on Dhiego Lima, who was competing for the first time since October 2019.
Muhammad relied on a heavy pace to fatigue the Brazilian, and although he was tagged a few times with powerful calf kicks, he won via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
The victory over Lima extended Muhammad’s win streak to four and he’s now 8-1 in his last nine bouts. Moving forward, he’s looking to compete against a fighter in the top 15 of the welterweight division, calling out No. 12 ranked Li Jingliang. China’s Jingliang is coming off a stunning KO victory over Santiago Ponzinibbio last month and is 4-1 in his last five fights.
But, Muhammad almost didn’t get to call his shot against Jingliang.
UFC color commentator Joe Rogan, who was in charge of the UFC 258 post-fight interviews, went to end the interview before Remember the Name made his call out. Muhammad reminded Rogan that he didn’t get the chance to challenge anyone and it led to a funny exchange between the two. Watch below:
Joe Rogan tried to rob @BullyB170 of his call out 😅 #UFC258
“Come on, Joe!” Muhammad said. “Come on, man! I just want to fight, dude. Hey, Jingliang. You’re right above me, man. You’re taking everything I’ve worked for. You’re No. 12, I’m 13. Let’s do it.
“It’s nothing personal with Li Jingliang, I’m just working up that ladder,” Muhammad later said. “I’m finally on that ladder and I finally want to climb it one by one. He had a huge win against Ponzinibbio and they put him at number 12, I just want to keep climbing.”
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Muhammad Wants to Be ‘In Front’ of Nate Diaz, Jorge Masvidal & Stephen Thompson By the End of 2021
Remember the Name has a major goal for 2021, to end the year in the top five of the division and be ranked higher than some of the biggest names at 170 pounds, including Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz.
“At the end of 2021, I want to be on that top 5,” Muhammad said to the UFC. “I want to be there when they are sitting and talking about who’s going to be the top guys fighting for the title, I want my name to be in that mix. I want to be that guy that they are looking at like ‘I want to see who he fights next.’
“They are talking about the Wonderboys, the Masvidals, Nate Diaz gets all this attention, but he sucks… I want to just scratch those guys out. Belal Muhammad needs to be in front of these guys.”
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UFC 258 Full Fight Card Results
Here are the results from the nine-fight UFC 258 event:
Main Card
Welterweight Championship: Kamaru Usman def. Gilbert Burns via third-round TKO
Women’s Flyweight: Alexa Grasso def. Maycee Barber via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Middleweight: Kelvin Gastelum def. Ian Heinisch via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Featherweight: Ricky Simon def. Brian Kelleher via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Middleweight: Julian Marquez def. Maki Pitolo via third-round submission (anaconda choke)
Preliminary Card
Middleweight: Anthony Hernandez def. Rodolfo Vieira via second-round submission (guillotine choke)
Welterweight: Belal Muhammad def. Dhiego Lima via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Women’s Strawweight: Polyana Viana def. Mallory Martin via first-round submission (armbar)
140-pound Catchweight: Chris Gutierrez def. Andre Ewell via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-27)
Early Preliminary Card
Welterweight: Gabriel Green def. Philip Rowe via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
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Joe Rogan Snubs UFC Fighter’s Callout: ‘Come On, Joe!’ [WATCH]