Belal Muhammad has made it clear he is not accepting Sean Strickland’s post-fight apology for past derogatory comments about Islam, and says he wants to settle things in the cage.
Strickland defeated Khamzat Chimaev by split decision in the UFC 328 headliner to claim the middleweight title, then addressed previous remarks about Muslims. Chimaev accepted the apology and the two embraced in the octagon, but Muhammad was not on board.
"Even though the clown apologized, 'I apologized to my Muslim fans, I was just promoting a fight,'" Muhammad said, before rejecting that explanation. "No, it's not promoting a fight when you're talking about religion. He always plays that role of saying stupid stuff and then afterward, 'I love this guy. This guy's the best,' blah blah, blah. When you talk about religion, you talk about family, that hits different. I hope to one day step in the cage with that clown before it's all said and done and just make him bleed."
Muhammad also weighed in on the UFC 328 main event itself, siding with Chimaev on the scorecards. "I still thought he won the fight 3-2 if I'm being honest," he said, pointing to the perceived impact of expectations on judging.
"I thought he was landing harder shots on the feet. Strickland was landing a lot of jabs. He defended a couple of takedowns. But damage wise, he did break Strickland's nose, but Khamzat was a little beat up himself. He did have a swollen face, lips. I think it also comes down to the judges assuming that Khamzat could only win by taking him down."
