Belal Muhammad advises Islam Makhachev to start camp for his next potential fight - “Whoever you have in the store, you are good”

Fight week has started as the athletes gear up for the extravagant UFC 315, scheduled to showcase two title fights on May 10, 2025. Belal Muhammad is in the game to defend the welterweight title against Jack Della Maddalena, and Valentina Shevchenko is prepared to face Manon Fiorot to defend the women’s flyweight bout. While the hype is real, current welterweight champion Muhammad appears on a podcast with DraftKings and talks about Islam Makhachev’s supposed welterweight quest, asking the fighter to start camp instead for whoever he is going to face next.
Lightweight champion Islam Makhachev had expressed his desire to move up to the welterweight division to conquer another division championship within the promotion. However, with his longtime training partner under Khabib Nurmagomedov, Belal Muhammad, already sitting on the throne of the welterweight champion, the future of Makhachev within the division has become uncertain. Fans have speculated that the result of the UFC 315 main card would decide the fighter’s fate in terms of the two-weight championship roadmap.
Muhammad has nothing but good to say about his long-term friend and training partner, Makahchev. Both fighters have dismissed the idea of facing each other as opponents within the Octagon. Their trainer, Khabib Nurmagomedov, has also rejected any notions of a possible bout between the two. In a podcast with DraftKings, when Muhammad was asked if he had already known about Makhachev’s double champion plans instead of becoming the greatest lightweight of all time, the fighter promptly replied, “Yeah, I mean, we have talked about it. We have said it and he is like, ‘Oh man you have ruined my plans.” It is one of those things like, ‘Oh man, you have won the belt. You have ruined my plans.’” Muhammad continued, “And I think like you said, where there are people waiting to see what happens this weekend. But I would like to tell them that I wouldn’t get your fight signed. Because I am not leaving Montreal without the belt.”

The fighter in the end advises Makhachev to start his camp and be prepared for his next potential fight, “I am still going to be the champ, so start your camp right now. Whoever you have in line, whoever you have in the store, you are good.”
Also read: What’s next in the Octagon: UFC fight cards for May 2025
Seems like Muhammad is geared up to defend his welterweight title in UFC 315 and is not going to give up easily to Jack Della Maddalena. If Muhammad retains his title, the circumstances would change for Makhachev and the future would remain uncertain.