Alan Jouban thinks Belal Muhammad faces a stern test in Gabriel Bonfim.
Former welterweight champion Muhammad (24-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) will look to snap a two-fight losing skid when he takes on Bonfim (19-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) in the UFC Fight Night 278 headliner June 6 at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
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With Muhammad looking to rebound, Jouban isn’t sure a dangerous rising contender is the best option for him right now.
“Look, it’s hard for me to look at this fight and not think they’re almost punishing Belal Muhammad,” Jouban told MMA Junkie. “This is a tough matchup. Gabriel Bonfim, he’s a submission expert. The guy submits just about everyone. He’s very dangerous on the ground. If you’re looking to take him down constantly, you’re putting yourself in harm’s way, which is traditionally Belal’s path to victory. Then he shows on the feet he’s got that Brazilian muay-Thai type of style, and he showed in his last fight against Randy Brown – he got that early stoppage. A lot of people – I think I was the only analyst that had Bonfim winning – everyone was picking against him, and just felt like it was ‘Rude Boy’s’ time. But he showed he’s dangerous everywhere. He’s a very long, rangy guy with a strong skill set, a very high-level skill set at finishing fights.
“And you have Belal Muhammad, ever since he won the title and inevitably lost it, has been kind of struggling to find who is as a fighter anymore. There was a point where I personally thought Belal Muhammad was one of the best grapplers we’ve seen, because what he had done. His body of work, being able to take down anybody and everybody and just the control time – he was becoming that Khabib (Nurmagomedov) type of fighter. … He’s going to need to get back to the old ways, but it’s kind of a double-edged sword because any time you’re putting yourself in a takedown position against Bonfim, you’re putting yourself in a position to possibly get submitted. I felt like this was one of the toughest matchups that UFC could give Belal, so it feels like a bit of a punishment on my end.”
Jouban says Muhammad never got his due on his rise to UFC gold. That’s why he thinks a win is not enough.
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“He needs it, and he also needs something exciting because Belal kind of got that treatment where he was (winning) but he wasn’t getting big opportunities,” Jouban said. “He wasn’t putting on the type of entertaining fights that UFC wanted out of him, so he kind of got punished.
“He became the champion. They weren’t really promoting him as well. Now it’s just been tough fight after tough fight, and here’s another one for him. He needs to go in there and not only win – he needs to do something exciting, get on that microphone and just create that momentum and that buzz surrounding his name again.”
To hear more from Jouban, check out his complete appearance on “The Bohnfire” podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn above.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Alan Jouban: UFC ‘almost punishing’ Belal Muhammad with Bonfim fight
