Belal Muhammad was as shocked as anyone else when he heard Ben Askren is returning to the wrestling mats at RAF 11.
Muhammad is tasked with a unique situation July 18 when he serves as the opponent for Askren in the former Bellator champ’s first competition since a near-death encounter with pneumonia that ultimately led to double lung-replacement surgery.
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The idea of Askren recovering to the point of living a long and healthy life after his operation was the primary focus once he came out of the darkest points of his health scare. No one dared to even propose a possibility of him competing, but then Muhammad got the call with the offer. Once he was assured his opponent’s health is in order, he pounced.
“They brought it to me last week and obviously my first question was the same as everyone else: Is he healthy? Is he good?” Muhammad told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. “They said, ‘Yeah, he’s healthy. He’s good. He’s training wrestling.’ Obviously, his story is epic. It’s a miracle that he’s even here today. The fact he wants to compete, and I get to be in there with him, to be a part of that story, is huge. It’s an honor to be there in his hometown, to be his comeback fight, comeback match. It could be his last match. I wasn’t going to say no at all.”
It’s a tad of an awkward spot for Muhammad. If he wipes Askren out, he will get criticized and receive no appreciation for beating someone who was on life support roughly one year ago. If he loses, the backlash poking fun at him will be even stronger.
None of these realities are lost on Muhammad, and he’s already accepted them no matter how things go.
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“He’s winning at life just being there,” Muhammad said. “Winning at life just being willing to compete again and to be on the mats again. There’s no losing. It’s a lose-lose situation for me, right? If I win, I’m going to get booed. If I lose, I’m going to get booed regardless. For myself, it’s a win just to be a part of it.”
Before RAF 11, Muhammad (24-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) will first compete in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 278 headliner against Gabriel Bonfim (19-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas (Paramount+). He has a bit of a history with Askren. They both trained under the Roufusport banner earlier in their careers, and although they aren’t close friends, Muhammad has a full appreciation of Askren and his story.
“When I was still at Titan FC I was able to get some work with him, he was the Bellator champion at the time,” Muhammad said. “Obviously I was looking at hime like, ‘Damn, this guy is a champion, he’s a beast. That’s where I want to be.’ He was always nice, he was always cool. Hearing his story and seeing his story, a lot of my close friends an training partners are really close with him.”
To hear more from Muhammad, check out his complete appearance on “The Bohnfire” podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Belal Muhammad: Ben Askren match in RAF ‘a lose-lose situation for me’
