On his Pound 4 Pound podcast on January 20, Usman said Makhachev should move up to take Muhammad’s belt, casting aside the brotherhood narrative that Makhachev alleges is stopping him from fighting Muhammad. Safe to say Muhammad wasn’t happy with the remarks.

Belal Muhammad reminds Kamaru Usman that he spent years saying he would never fight Israel Adesanya after he suggested that Islam Makhachev should move to welterweight to try and take his title

It’s no surprise that Usman is pushing Makhachev to fight Muhammad, considering his current beef with the welterweight champion. Muhammad was quick to fire back at Usman, who is yet to compete since suffering his third consecutive loss to Khamzat Chimaev in October 2023.