Belal Muhammad has thanked the UFC for restoring the Palestinian flag to his fighter profile, after complaining about its absence last week.
Muhammad was born in the US but to Palestinian parents, and he has been seen carrying the Palestinian flag numerous times throughout his UFC career. In 2022, the UFC imposed a flag ban, but White – the promotion’s president – overturned that ruling one year later. It is believed that the ban was related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
In any case, fans noticed last week that Muhammad, who won the welterweight title in July, had no flag on his fighter profile on ufc.com, leading the champion to call out White.
Muhammad was happy to offer kinder words to White this weekend, however, after the Palestinian flag was restored to his profile.
“Just wanted to give a quick shoutout to Dana,” the 36-year-old said on Saturday. “I talked to him, he said the flag’s back up tonight, apologised.
“That’s why I love the UFC, I love this company, and that’s why Dana is the man. [It’s] the only organisation that lets you be yourself, and true to his word, he doesn’t let other people sway his attitude or what he’s gonna do.
“So, shoutout to Dana, shoutout to the UFC, and the flag is back, baby.”
Last week, Muhammad had said: “I’ll address [this] and hope that Dana addresses it as well, fixes it – because Dana said he’s all about free speech, he’s all about people supporting who they wanna support, and not muting or silencing anybody. So, I’m hoping that the UFC fixes this issue and puts my flag next to my name, so the people that I represent, the people that I fight for, and the people that I train for will see their flag next to their champion’s name.”
The Independent contacted the UFC for comment at the time.
Many UFC fans speculated that the absence of the flag was related to Palestine’s complicated history with Israel. The nations have been locked in fresh conflict since late 2023, and US President Donald Trump last week issued a “last warning” to Hamas – a Palestinian militant group – to release Israeli hostages who have been held in Gaza.
Muhammad is next scheduled to fight in May, defending his title against Australia’s Jack Della Maddalena in the main event of UFC 315 in Canada.
