{"id":37658,"date":"2026-04-08T16:38:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T16:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Belal-Muhammad-accuses-manager-of-protecting-Kamaru-Usman-200770"},"modified":"2026-04-08T16:38:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T16:38:03","slug":"belal-muhammad-accuses-manager-of-protecting-kamaru-usman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/belal-muhammad-accuses-manager-of-protecting-kamaru-usman\/","title":{"rendered":"Belal Muhammad accuses manager of ‘protecting’ Kamaru Usman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Belal
\nMuhammad<\/a> and Kamaru
\nUsman<\/a>\u2019s common manager, Ali Abdelaziz, must be in a tough
\nspot. <\/p>\n

Muhammad is scheduled to fight surging welterweight contender
\nGabriel
\nBonfim<\/a> at
\nUFC Fight Night 278<\/a> on June 6 at the Apex in Las Vegas.
\nMuhammad claims Bonfim and Usman were two potential opponents
\ninitially mentioned to him by his manager. However, Muhammad was
\nalmost certain he would have to fight Bonfim, as he knew Usman
\nwouldn\u2019t accept. <\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Muhammad even plans to tell Abdelaziz in person that he is
\nprotecting Usman. However, Muhammad also understands Abdelaziz\u2019s
\npredicament. Muhammad notes that Usman is one of the most
\nhigh-profile fighters that Abdelaziz has managed over the years.
\nHowever, Muhammad believes \u201cThe Nigerian Nightmare\u201d is at the tail
\nend of his career, where he has to wait for a perfect matchup.<\/p>\n

Usman was initially rallying for a welterweight title shot against
\nIslam
\nMakhachev<\/a>, who is also managed by Abdelaziz. However, Muhammad
\nbelieves Usman won\u2019t get a title shot at welterweight anytime soon,
\nwhich is why the 38-year-old is teasing a move to middleweight.
\nAccording to Muhammad, former middleweight champ Dricus Du
\nPlessis<\/a> would be an easy matchup for Usman.<\/p>\n

One Chance Left<\/h2>\n

\u201cI called my manager and he\u2019s like, \u2018They\u2019re looking at Kamaru or
\nBonfim,\u2019\u201d Muhammad told MMAjunkie.com<\/a>. \u201cSo that\u2019s when I was like, \u2018Oh,
\nso it\u2019s Bonfim.\u2019… I\u2019ll straight up and tell him that Kamaru is a
\nchicken and [Ali] is trying to protect him. For Ali, he\u2019s in bad
\nspot. Because Kamaru is his golden goose and he knows that he will
\nget smacked around by me. So you got to protect him. Kamaru has one
\nchance left. He\u2019s at that point now where he has to wait for that
\nperfect fight. He\u2019s putting out little feelers out there. Maybe
\nhe\u2019ll get a title shot, I don\u2019t think he\u2019ll get at 170. But he\u2019s
\ntrying to plant the seeds at 185. DDP would be an easy fight, DDP
\ncan\u2019t defend a takedown. And he can\u2019t get up.\u201d