SNEAKO - SNEAKO Interviews Belal Muhammad

00:00:00.000 hey below what's going on man what's up brother nice uh to finally talk a long time for the

00:00:09.640 clicks and view yeah it's been a minute trying to get this connected hey everything uh everything's

00:00:15.100 good you can hear me yeah i can hear you get it i'm good yeah you're good you're good so

00:00:19.200 you're you're training in chicago right now right yeah yeah so my camp is usually in chicago right

00:00:24.800 now i just finished uh for the day right now so basically i had like three sessions today

00:00:29.440 you're not too wiped oh yeah man i'm freaking i'm drained but i can talk all day okay okay

00:00:36.360 tomorrow you're just gonna go right back to it three sessions tomorrow yeah so every day is a

00:00:41.940 little bit different so like today was more heavy grappling based tomorrow sparring but like every

00:00:47.180 day is just a change of uh practice so like you have your muay thai days your grappling days

00:00:53.240 because like mma is so hard right because you have to do so many different disciplines so you're trying

00:00:57.680 to figure out how to manage every single one of those disciplines and put them all together

00:01:01.380 so do you ever do you ever get bored i wonder because like to compete at the top level it's like

00:01:06.840 all day on the mats all day training sparring looking at like do you does it ever get repetitive

00:01:12.560 you've been doing it for so long i mean it gets repetitive but that's where it comes from that's

00:01:18.800 where me like getting to train with other guys is so good for you because it's like i'll see that

00:01:25.000 with a lot of guys they'll be at the same gym they'll get bored of it they'll get tired of it

00:01:28.000 and then uh they'll start to fall out of love with the sport but for me i i travel a lot and i'll get

00:01:32.640 to work with some of the best guys in the world and i was just with i'd be even islaming them uh a

00:01:36.940 couple weeks ago so me training with those guys getting different looks from those guys they like

00:01:40.980 rejuvenate you and it just like hypes you up again because you know going with new guys it like

00:01:46.760 gives you those same nerves of kind of like a fight where you're going with the same guys every day

00:01:50.640 at practice your your friend your boys every day you get to you get to read this what they're doing

00:01:55.160 what they're going to do to you how they're going to take you down how they're going to swing at you

00:01:57.620 but when you go with new guys new looks it like gives you that same feel of like your first fight

00:02:01.920 or like your first grappler match yeah how did that happen i saw that you've been training with um

00:02:06.200 with the dagestan guys how did that come about i mean you it's been a couple years but it seems like

00:02:11.140 they because is this special because you have the title fight coming up no i mean i got connected

00:02:16.720 with them probably like five years ago where i started working with them and then uh i did like

00:02:20.840 a full camp with them when i fought sean brady in abu dhabi and like honestly that was like the best

00:02:26.220 time of my life not in just even not even just training wise but just like when you're hanging

00:02:32.600 out with them and you're hanging out with you know being muslim hanging out with those guys they like

00:02:37.420 level you up spiritually because they're all the same they're all doing the exact same stuff as you

00:02:41.800 they're all you all believe the same exact thing so we're going from training to praying to eating

00:02:46.740 together and honestly it was like you just had a sense of calmness when you're with them and then

00:02:53.700 they all they're all like brothers right they all have the same mentality and they all want the best

00:02:58.360 for you and they all want to help you and they're all so good so just to get be able to learn from

00:03:02.600 them guys and get beat up from them guys and knowing that they have you know they want to see me win

00:03:08.280 and i may not have grown up with them or uh always dagestani like them but like we're muslim brothers

00:03:14.680 and like they had that same feeling towards you and they have a small group so be able to so for me

00:03:19.280 to be able to be a part of that small group is uh it's priceless yeah do you think that they like

00:03:24.880 invite you into the circle because you're palestinian because you're muslim how does that work i think 0.77

00:03:30.400 it's muslim and then it's like once they meet you then they they know that you're about the hard work

00:03:35.040 right because there's a lot of guys that they want to train with habib and islam with them

00:03:39.020 they'll get that one picture and then they'll be done and they'll never come back they'll just be like

00:03:42.580 oh i got to train with them because they bro they kill you it's not a it's not an easy practice it's not

00:03:47.540 like uh it's not like a practice just for for clicks right you're gonna go in there you're gonna

00:03:52.820 you're gonna feel it and then the next day you have to do it again you have to do it again

00:03:56.500 and i think like i earned the respect by coming back for more every single time and there was no like

00:04:02.600 quitted me at all and the the sessions we had in uh abu dhabi were like the hardest practice i've

00:04:09.240 ever had in my life and then they continue to push you after that same practice so we'll go through

00:04:13.360 the practice you're like we just far five rounds then he wants to grapple five rounds and then

00:04:18.080 habib will call me in the cage and be like all right now come with me now and i'm looking at my

00:04:22.060 coach and we're looking at each other like bro i'm like dead and then islam will look at me 0.99

00:04:26.180 as we're like doing planks or something he's like this guy's crazy man this guy's crazy 0.76

00:04:29.940 and it's we're all doing the same exact thing right but like we all had the same mission

00:04:35.180 but i think it was just more so out of respect and then knowing that i had the same mindset as

00:04:41.100 them i'm i'm not gonna quit there's no give up in me at all and like i'm just trying to get better

00:04:45.380 and i think that they do that they respected that and uh i think from there on a relationship just

00:04:50.580 built yeah one thing that everybody has to recognize is that with the dog standing guys the

00:04:54.860 discipline they have is like incomparable to anything uh in any other fight camp but what

00:05:00.960 do you think it do you think it's um is it something about that area of the world is it

00:05:04.760 the muslim brotherhood is it just their specific discipline how do you think that the discipline

00:05:10.780 is so strong with them i mean i think just you're born into it right just because being muslim in

00:05:16.600 general you're born in with the discipline where you have to pray five times a day you can't do this

00:05:21.020 you have to stay away from that and a lot of the stuff that we're supposed to be staying away from

00:05:25.480 it's perfect for an athlete like you shouldn't be drinking you shouldn't be doing eating this or

00:05:30.360 doing that or staying out at night going to clubs so they already had that instilled in them but also

00:05:35.040 they've been training since they were kids they've been doing this since they were you know three or

00:05:40.940 four years old they're uh habib's dad alayama was one that was his coach he brought him up and then

00:05:46.820 islam trained with them guys so all these guys they trained since they were young kids and

00:05:50.980 now they're bringing out their younger generation like they have so many guys on their team that

00:05:55.120 are 19 20 years old that's freaking killing me on the mats and i'm like bro i'm about to fight for

00:06:00.600 the title i'm getting beat up by this guy and people don't even know what his name is but like he has

00:06:05.080 the same type of strength as habib same type of same type of strength as islam and i think it's just 0.99

00:06:10.200 like you know high tides raise all ships so all of them together in that one room they're all in that

00:06:15.080 training so you have to get better you have to get good you're not going to be in that room and be weak

00:06:19.100 um so i think that's why a lot of them are so good and also just like mentality right habib doesn't

00:06:25.200 let you be soft we were in dubai and you know a couple guys will show up late to practice and he'll

00:06:31.040 like take their phone from them because he's like you guys are obviously staying up too late so i'm

00:06:34.820 taking your phone till tomorrow you're not going to get your phone until tomorrow morning uh and it

00:06:39.300 just like he puts you in your place and no matter who you are even for himself he shows up to practice

00:06:44.160 on time he's doing all the exact same thing it's not like he's taking 80 days off he's showing

00:06:49.580 videos of himself running every night and he tells you guys you should be running every night no matter

00:06:53.540 what there even if you're on he how much he travels he still figures out a way to train and stuff like

00:06:59.260 that he's still in amazing shape training with him a couple weeks ago just killing me i'm like bro

00:07:03.720 this guy gonna get out of shape but like it sounds like bro he's always training he's always in the

00:07:07.800 room you think there's any possibility that habib returns it's he's still only 35

00:07:11.440 yeah i mean i don't think he's gonna return i'm glad that he's returning to to coaching and being

00:07:17.000 in the corner again but i don't think he's gonna return to fighting i mean he made that promise to

00:07:21.200 his mom i think that's more than anything because i'm sure the ufc probably offered him millions and

00:07:26.340 millions of dollars and he makes so much money outside of the ufc like he's a he's a smart businessman

00:07:31.060 he has so many things going on it's it's crazy uh how much traveling this guy does and i know that

00:07:36.760 he showed me he has coffee shops in dagestan and this is like little businesses he's he's got a

00:07:42.440 really strong business mindset when i was in cali with him he was just like he'll tell me like the

00:07:46.920 stats for like starbucks like you know starbucks makes this money much money a year and this this

00:07:51.700 and this and uh yeah i think that he started to instill that mindset and all the other guys too it's

00:07:56.980 like a lot of fighters you know your window's so small so you have to figure out what's next and you

00:08:02.500 have to be smart with your money and i think that's why a lot of these guys they don't have

00:08:07.220 to fight they can do something else they can do this right afterward and that's why habib was able

00:08:11.320 to retire undefeated he wasn't thirsty to fight he didn't need to keep going because you know he's

00:08:16.180 comfortable what about for you this seems like it's the biggest fight of your career and inshallah

00:08:20.420 you become uh the champion real soon do you think that that's the the crux of your career

00:08:25.560 yeah inshallah we get this one like obviously this is what i've been working for

00:08:30.340 like i started late i started at um 23 years old like i didn't have i didn't wasn't born into

00:08:36.460 martial arts or training like that i had like two years of high school wrestling but i'm from

00:08:42.160 chicago so like i had like street fighting skills and i would play the ball all the time and get in

00:08:46.160 fights all the time but like i never thought i would be like a professional athlete but once i started

00:08:50.480 later it started the wind started coming you know getting into the ufc uh i lost two of my first three

00:08:57.440 fights and you're like man it's just gonna it's gonna be a quick in and out like a lot of these

00:09:02.180 guys happen but just like for myself i never wanted to be one of those guys i never wanted to be one of

00:09:07.320 those stories because i had so many people telling me that i couldn't do or i wouldn't make it so i

00:09:11.440 just kept pushing and pushing and pushing finding the right coaches finding the right teams finding the

00:09:15.460 right training partners like i work probably harder than uh like when i tell when i people ask me what

00:09:21.900 my training schedule is or what i do like they'll be like bro you're you're overworking and i still think

00:09:25.940 i'm underworking because i think i'm already behind all these guys that started since they were kids

00:09:31.200 so like i got to where i am today by outworking everybody and uh yeah on uh july 27th that's my

00:09:39.720 moment right that's my moment for to shut up all the doubters shut up all the haters uh for the people

00:09:44.920 that don't believe me still don't believe in me after every one of my wins there's an excuse and

00:09:49.220 there's a reason why i won or like he won because of this he won because of that but if i had the gold

00:09:53.620 around my waist then there's nothing else that matters like my goal is to be to get the gold so

00:09:59.220 all that other noise doesn't matter to that you've always been one of my favorite fighters uh how you're

00:10:05.080 able to to transition and uh the ground game and the standing game and so whatever like uh i mean

00:10:10.680 obviously you see the reception from some people that they they boo when you put it on the screen it's

00:10:14.700 more like a meme because i don't see any like actual justification for that and maybe it's not

00:10:19.340 because you're like the loud trash talking like conor mcgregor type that they like they're not able

00:10:25.160 to relate to you but when you win inshallah it's like for them to finally not have anything else to 0.97

00:10:30.180 say is going to be it's going to be funny i think to finally get them to shut up yeah i mean we live

00:10:36.380 in the age of mob mentality right where oh let's oh he's booing let me boo like i went to i was in

00:10:42.040 london like three years ago for uh like a q a and it was for a different fight but like the crowd was

00:10:47.440 booing and then i met this this old lady came to the hotel and she wanted a picture and it just 0.99

00:10:52.640 stuck with me because she's like she talked to me for a little bit i gave her a picture and she was

00:10:56.260 like you're so nice i don't know why i was booing you i was like why are you booing me i don't know

00:11:00.700 the crowd was just booing so i just assumed that i should boo and i was like oh thank you it's cool

00:11:05.320 but it's like yeah you're the nicest kid but like when people meet me in person there's no there's not

00:11:10.980 no boy i got it like we live in the trolling age right on twitter where people don't have faces

00:11:15.780 they're faceless so they think they can say whatever they want and uh post whatever they

00:11:19.660 want but in person that's when you see the real side of people like if i'm standing in front of

00:11:25.120 you you're not gonna disrespect me if i'm standing in front of you you're not gonna say this or that

00:11:28.460 and we live in that day and age where guys like sean strickland are so popular because he says the 1.00

00:11:34.420 dumbest stuff because people want that that that viral moment of him saying something stupid and 1.00

00:11:40.040 idiotic yeah and the stuff that he's saying that's like resonating with uh the people it's like 1.00

00:11:45.500 it's so surface level stuff like it used to be edgy maybe 20 years ago like gay people are 1.00

00:11:52.520 brainwashed like whoa like genius take like is anyone really that surprised he's like talking

00:11:58.260 about being a patriot but then he's uh he's always like pro israel and this stuff it's like well if

00:12:02.880 you're going to be a patriot you want to put america first then you should be on the side of the

00:12:06.600 palestinians right we should not want to keep on supporting and sending billions of dollars to 1.00

00:12:11.120 israel non-stop i want to see more people uh speak about that but yeah i am looking forward to this

00:12:17.240 what would you think is like how would you describe the the discipline aspect because if you're praying

00:12:23.240 five times a day and you're training three times a day you have to make wudu and you have to be in

00:12:27.120 and out of um in and out of the majid all the time are you praying in the gym or what does that look

00:12:32.040 yeah i mean like for for us for being muslim you know the world is your is your masjid right

00:12:39.000 whenever the whenever the clock strikes then you have to go that's your time to god and that's for

00:12:43.220 myself is having that discipline of like all right well if i'm in the gym then i have to go pray right

00:12:48.300 now if i'm on the road wherever i'm at if i have to go somewhere else i got to pray on the street

00:12:52.940 before we have to go wherever you are you just have to be ready to go and luckily a lot of the places

00:12:57.920 that i'm training at are working out at have showers and stuff so you're showering right after

00:13:01.880 each workout session and then uh you're getting it in but yeah it just for myself it's praying five

00:13:09.400 times a day it's not like work right it's like it's like meditation for you it's it's clearing your

00:13:14.900 mind of all the stresses your daily life and you owe that time to god and that's all that matters in

00:13:19.800 that one moment like you're not thinking about you're not thinking about training you're not thinking

00:13:23.440 about the fight you're not thinking about that it's it's it's purifying honestly when you're

00:13:27.760 doing it what are do you have to go in and out like if you have to get to her and asa so it's

00:13:32.820 like training session shower are you do you have to i'm just wondering how that was because i was

00:13:36.660 training with um some muscle brothers in the uk during ramadan and like we would have to because

00:13:42.000 you have to cover your knees right you have to get into the the mode of prayer and make we do is is

00:13:46.520 that difficult or did you think like for the young muslim fighter it's it's not you know it's not

00:13:50.780 that much of a process no it's not that much of a process wherever you are if you just you just

00:13:56.320 got to make sure you have the right clothes with you at all points right in all times and like i

00:14:01.000 said if i'm in the gym and i have to pray in the gym that's where i'm praying if i'm if i'm going for

00:14:06.600 a jog or running or anything like that then you're praying on the street it's that's more purifying than

00:14:12.240 anything and it's so many people nowadays they delay it and they wait and they be like oh well i

00:14:17.040 could do it later or i could do it later but you never know when your time is up right you never

00:14:21.020 edit a blink of an eye you could die you could pass away and you see you have you see those videos

00:14:25.420 of people like where they where they look at their their death and they're like oh wait give me

00:14:30.080 send me back let me go i'll pray five times a day if you give me another chance at life

00:14:33.400 please god do this and you see those videos and they're like it hits you too because you realize

00:14:39.000 that yo like this is your moment like there's no there's not going to be a second chance at

00:14:43.520 trying to you know please god you have to do that right now no nothing else should matter you

00:14:48.640 shouldn't be like oh let me wait for this show to finish let me wait for let me eat my food real

00:14:52.760 quick then i'll go pray it's like no this god bless you with all those things right god bless you with

00:14:58.120 food god bless you with a job god bless you with this so you owe it to god to pray at the right time

00:15:03.880 when it's time to go you you should be praying nothing else should be mattering at that one time

00:15:07.840 so so what what is the um the hierarchy for you it comes islam first and then your fighting career

00:15:14.660 and then and then what's the what's below muhammad's hierarchy of needs oh yeah i mean

00:15:20.060 it's islam first then you know family making sure my family's good and then martial arts okay i'm not 0.96

00:15:26.200 i don't really do much else besides train like i'm going i'm watching tapes um training like

00:15:35.780 the ufc will ask me hey do you do anything other hobbies and i'm like there's no other hobbies

00:15:40.060 it's it's this this is all this is all i'm doing i'm working toward it every single day

00:15:43.660 like i said i i always tell myself that you're behind you're already behind like you're not

00:15:49.220 if you're if you start getting to the point of getting comfortable and be like all right i'm good

00:15:52.820 enough then that's when these guys are going to pass you up that's when you're going to end up losing

00:15:56.260 that fight and that moment like i've worked too hard to get here to be lazy now i work too hard to

00:16:01.660 get here now to like take my foot off the gas like i still have to stay on at all points and stay

00:16:06.600 full focus no matter what do you think or do you ever wonder if you should try to be more provocative

00:16:12.960 to get like the you know the average drunk ufc fan to be on your side or do you does any of that

00:16:20.320 stuff phase you do you think that you should have more hobbies or like try to become more interesting

00:16:24.600 or provocative or is it just like i'm just gonna do my thing i'm gonna be disciplined i'm gonna learn

00:16:29.800 the art of martial arts and stick to my religion i mean i think for nowadays for myself it's like

00:16:38.200 i don't want to be fake because there's a lot of fake guys out here they try too hard

00:16:42.560 and people read the fakeness from you and like like i said being religious being muslim i'm not

00:16:48.620 gonna go that route of being crazy because i've seen guys that are muslim and disciplined and they've 0.93

00:16:54.200 been the biggest superstar in the world and habib and like that's a guy that i look up to and that's a

00:16:58.720 career that i would want so and like i said winning solves everything right once you have the belt

00:17:03.980 then they're gonna have to watch you once you have the belt then ufc is gonna push their full 0.97

00:17:07.920 full force behind you i think i'm interesting if you give me a if i can have a conversation with you

00:17:13.620 yeah people will sit there and be like oh man bro you're not this you're not that like you are

00:17:18.200 interesting but people just got to get to know you and i think the ufc once you're a champion then

00:17:23.200 they have to put their full media behind you and i think that they're going to realize like

00:17:26.860 all right we could work with this guy we could push this guy this guy you know we don't have 1.00

00:17:31.180 to push a freaking an idiot like strickland or somebody dumb like that like muslim islam now 1.00

00:17:36.980 they're posting about you know ramadan after khabib there right like the ufc never really posted 1.00

00:17:41.320 anything but now they're posting like happy eve and people started wanting to learn more about

00:17:46.760 islam because of guys like that because they see it right there and if khabib's on the mic and he's

00:17:51.940 saying listen to your parents and talk to your listen to your mother right he's saying that type

00:17:56.240 of stuff he's not saying oh after party at the the this club or that club right and you know the

00:18:02.760 stuff they're posting all the time there's like i'd rather be that guy that somebody can look up to

00:18:07.480 and be like you know my kids are looking up to you and they're proud of you and they want to be like

00:18:10.840 you instead of you know proper 12 i think that's um that's a good analogy that makes sense i don't

00:18:18.680 think it's a lack of being interesting it's just a lack of relatability if we're going to be real

00:18:22.620 like the average ufc fan and there's obviously there's so many but i would say like the core

00:18:27.740 audience is like a white drunk guy like that's the image like a guy in a sports bar he's slamming

00:18:33.200 beers and he wants to see conor mcgregor get like a knockout punch and so they're able to relate to 1.00

00:18:38.820 to a strickland because he's like he's like them like oh fucking you're you sir stupid like they can 0.99

00:18:45.180 understand that and if you look back at habib's career he's like obviously one of the most respected 1.00

00:18:49.860 now but at the time he was getting booed just like you are right he was getting on stage saying

00:18:53.700 alhamdulillah the whole they're all booing him whenever he would go go to the ground they would

00:18:58.100 start booing him because they would think it's boring but now you can study these fights and be

00:19:01.660 like these are some of the most technically interesting fights in ufc history it's it's just

00:19:05.860 a lack of uh understanding and relatability and i didn't understand that until i seen like back and

00:19:11.000 forth uh that even even like some of the stuff that strickland's been saying about islam

00:19:14.900 and about palestine and the fact like he's like he's telling you like oh go fight for palestine 0.94

00:19:19.880 that logic is so stupid one because you're not fighting for america and two if you're going to 0.90

00:19:24.700 tell bala muhammad to go fight for palestine then you should go fight for israel and literally when i 1.00

00:19:30.260 when people say that when he says that i want to be like you want to just slap somebody like that

00:19:36.240 because he's looking for that clout right he's looking like when he when he initially uh comments on

00:19:41.760 one of my posts he it came out of nowhere and i was like why is this door trying to comment because

00:19:46.400 he's looking for he wants those clicks he needs those clicks and i know he tries to play the role

00:19:51.000 of like i'm this tough guy i'm this i'm not afraid of nothing but then he goes and cries on a theo

00:19:56.880 von podcast right because it just shows you how fake he is because he does have that emotional side to

00:20:01.920 him so he's waiting to see all right is this the right thing to post right now because people are

00:20:06.240 like this i'm in canada right now they hate trudeau let me let me talk bad about trudeau let me do this 0.99

00:20:10.620 and then he wants to bring up palestine yeah go fight for palestine you moron like your tax 1.00

00:20:15.160 dollars are going to israel you idiot like they're killing women and children you don't even have to 1.00

00:20:19.220 be palestinian to to want to want this to end this is a genocide like these people are dying every 1.00

00:20:25.720 single day there's videos that you're seeing every single day like i hate to even post it because i

00:20:30.760 don't like to see kids dying i don't like to see kids post posting videos but that's the only way

00:20:35.300 to get people to talk about and say anything about it and if he can watch those videos and see that 1.00

00:20:39.860 and still have that same stupid mentality then he's just dead in the heart but he's born to 1.00

00:20:44.380 and bred parents and he's a moron that was raised like an idiot so he that's why he says idiotic stuff 1.00

00:20:50.080 and when you think back to bro you're crying because your dad hit you these kids are dying 1.00

00:20:55.420 every single day and they don't know if they're going to be alive tomorrow when you know a normal

00:20:59.360 childhood should be kids should be like oh i don't want to i don't want to eat vegetables i don't

00:21:03.800 want to eat you know get that away from me but these kids are waking up every day like

00:21:07.620 where's my next meal coming from they're starving they're dying they're they're like they lost their

00:21:11.880 parents they're losing limbs out there and if you could sit there and be soulless and heartless and 1.00

00:21:17.200 you know disrespect those those kids like you're just a piece of trash it's just a lack of understanding 0.99

00:21:23.740 if a guy like him could understand that you can't say you're america first and then also have an 0.99

00:21:29.320 allegiance to israel if they would understand that all the politicians are controlled and that our tax

00:21:33.420 sellers go directly to fund this genocide then they would see that the america first position

00:21:38.180 is being pro-palestine but they they just don't get that because they they think they see palestine

00:21:44.220 they think islam they think la la la la they think like brown terrorists they like it's all the 9-11 0.96

00:21:49.340 programming uh but as soon as people like that understand how they're being controlled then so

00:21:54.960 many people are are gonna change their major positions but it makes me wonder like why uh why do you

00:22:00.220 think they resisted to give you the title fight for so long if you look at i mean guys like him

00:22:05.020 they got the title fight like and some people argue that they they got in they didn't really deserve

00:22:08.240 to that's not my position to say whether or not that's true and uh um but they you you've probably

00:22:14.880 deserved the title shot for for over three years yeah i mean i deserve the title shot for a while right

00:22:20.340 and like i said for myself i you look at it you you know you get paranoid obviously you go this or

00:22:27.180 that or this or that but then i always go back to being muslim and trusting god and all understanding

00:22:33.480 that god has a plan for you and it's a reason for everything like those guys that come into the ufc

00:22:38.980 and they get skyrocketed right away and they get put they bump right away like i said i think it's the

00:22:42.740 ufc obviously looking at it like all right let's see what's what works for the brand let's see what

00:22:47.360 pushes what we could push right now but i think if they sat there and they pushed me and they put god

00:22:52.240 behind me they would understand that yo we have a star here we could have pushed this guy three years

00:22:57.280 ago and i think that once they realize once i had the belt and i beat leon edwards they're gonna be

00:23:03.200 like oh okay we had this the whole time we should have we should have gained this title fight five

00:23:07.240 years ago he should have fought usman before leon like there's not a guy that's ever had the road

00:23:14.360 that i had to go through i've had to beat five top 10 guys in the ufc to get the shot like you said

00:23:19.720 strickland got the title fight off of uh he was two and two and he had two losses and he won two but

00:23:25.440 it was the timing for that one as well right because they wanted edesanya to fight duplessis 0.56

00:23:29.980 duplessis got hurt and edesanya being a champion he is he said you know give me the next guy up

00:23:34.940 leon's not that type of guy leon wants to stay in hiding he fights once a year he doesn't know how

00:23:40.020 to promote himself he doesn't know how to push himself so he's he sits there and he looks and he's

00:23:44.200 like let me fight a guy that can promote the fight for me so let me get kobe instead of

00:23:49.120 loud because it's the easier fight and i think people are gonna like you said the the fans the

00:23:53.800 that we have now are like oh kobe's gonna talk trash let's see what he says about leon let's push

00:23:58.040 that fight instead yeah but is that integrity when it comes to i understand running a promotion

00:24:04.960 but the fact that they give fights to people that are going to sell it and put on a show more than

00:24:10.440 the people that actually deserve it and any other sport you're not going to be able to like real

00:24:14.220 madrid's not going to play barcelona in the final because they're going to sell tickets they do it

00:24:18.040 because they earn their right to get to that final uh as a fighter and it's somebody in that

00:24:22.180 position do you think that there's a lack of integrity there or do you think it's just it's

00:24:25.640 fair and it's it's a different sport so this is how you have to sell fights no i mean i don't i don't

00:24:30.720 think it's definitely fair i think we we want to look at ourselves as a real sport right we want to

00:24:36.200 look at ourselves as you know nba nfl we want to be on that level where we start getting paychecks

00:24:41.120 like that so we we do have to have that type of you know level with the matchmaking it's like

00:24:47.800 how many ranked guys you have to fight before you get a title fight it's like no you need one more you

00:24:52.100 need this you need that like this isn't wwe this isn't fake wrestling and you know i know the ufc

00:24:58.180 always said that we don't we don't tell our guys to to get outlandish and say dumb stuff or do dumb

00:25:03.220 stuff but when it's dumb guys getting the big opportunities it's like well obviously there is a 0.87

00:25:08.900 reason for it so then you tell yourself like you know i'm gonna start pushing my brand more 0.91

00:25:13.180 try to do more on social media go to all the pay-per-views get in a rack with the fans more

00:25:18.340 so you just got to start building your brand early i think and i think that's a lot of these younger

00:25:22.420 fighters need to start doing you got to get on social media there's there's nothing else that

00:25:26.580 that matters especially because we fight one week and then the next week there's another fight so

00:25:31.360 that last week people already forgot about it so the only way to get it stay in people's heads

00:25:35.360 is to say dumb stuff in interviews or get on social media and have a big following

00:25:40.120 it seems like you you've learned a lot about the the business game um and you're seeing about how to

00:25:46.900 how to invest properly outside of it and uh you know you see you've probably seen fighters get caught

00:25:51.200 in the trap where they only need to fight for money what is your your biggest venture not hobby but

00:25:56.640 your biggest venture outside of fighting yeah i mean i think for myself being arab and being from

00:26:03.440 chicago like all my cousins all my family they all own their own businesses my sister has her

00:26:08.600 own pharmacy and it was like that was always the mindset growing up is like i think i have probably

00:26:14.180 like at least 15 cousins that own cell phone stores so they would get we would go to high school then

00:26:19.700 you wouldn't go to college you would get your own store you would open your own business you would

00:26:23.260 open it it's easy right because we all have that entrepreneur gene inside of us but for myself i was

00:26:30.120 like you know i want to go to college i don't want to just skip it and go straight to what's called so

00:26:34.800 i went to college and then while i was in college i was like my mindset was i want to do something that

00:26:39.180 uh i can make money with so i was like i want to go to school for for law so i want to be a lawyer

00:26:43.580 and i wanted to do that then i ended up getting into fighting but now i'm you know alhamdulillah i'm

00:26:48.820 making good money where i could invest in businesses and do my own thing and i have three brothers

00:26:52.680 that were looking at other ventures and things to to open up because my dad had his own business

00:26:58.940 like like you said the 9-11 mindset like he worked for the city of chicago and he got fired

00:27:03.380 uh after 9-11 because he was arab and you know they were making random cuts so after that he's like

00:27:08.760 i'm opening my own business and i'm not gonna work for nobody again so they can control my life

00:27:12.960 and i'm gonna do my own thing and he opened up a cell phone store that you know fed my family for 15

00:27:18.460 years and you know he had no electronic background or anything like that like he worked for the city

00:27:25.720 his whole life and got fired you know two years before his pension and i gotta give a credit thinking

00:27:30.740 um hearing you tell the story uh about the the perception of islam and muslims because obviously i'm

00:27:35.460 a i'm a revert i reverted last year and you've probably seen the shift like growing up as a muslim

00:27:41.000 in chicago you probably saw the i mean i'm noticing now like getting in the airport getting

00:27:46.880 randomly searched like wearing a thobe that's stuff that i never experienced before you've seen

00:27:51.160 um that terrorist perception and those stereotypes being attributed to your people for your whole life

00:27:56.100 and i would i would probably say like a big reason that there's a cultural shift i don't know if you

00:27:59.980 notice it is probably due to habib islam and guys like yourself uh representing islam in a positive way

00:28:05.460 because that's how a lot of guys in the west are going to be able to understand habib has that quote

00:28:10.100 saying that non-muslims don't read quran they don't read hadith they read the muslims to be the best

00:28:13.980 representative that you possibly could be and guys like yourself are representing and showing the

00:28:18.300 ideas about brotherhood and discipline and changing that perception really quickly have you do you think

00:28:23.820 that is uh have you noticed that shift yeah 100 it's like you said growing up it's like what was

00:28:31.240 every movie i was like any war movie the bad guys were always the arabs the bad guys were always 0.99

00:28:35.320 arabs so then 9-11 happens and it's like they have these guys are the bad guys these guys are evil 1.00

00:28:41.200 these guys are evil then you see like the muslim attacks and my mom wears a hijab and you're you 0.99

00:28:45.440 get worried for her to get attacked or anything like that to happen because people are clueless they 0.96

00:28:50.220 don't understand what the religion is but now that you have guys like like us we're we we're blessed

00:28:55.860 with this platform right to to show you the true side of islam and to show that it's peace it's not 1.00

00:29:01.100 anger it doesn't mean this like law doesn't mean something bad's about to happen it means god is

00:29:06.100 great and alhamdulillah doesn't mean something's bad about to happen it means thanking god

00:29:09.900 and people now that you know even like teammates that i know friends that i've had like i live with

00:29:15.520 jared gordon uh who's in the ufc and he's jewish and he lived we lived in an apartment in uh in

00:29:21.640 wisconsin for three years and he got more religious uh himself not to be a muslim but just seeing me pray

00:29:30.020 every single day so for him it got him you know i want to be more religious too so it just got him

00:29:34.520 more connected with god just seeing how i'm living my lifestyle my coach lewis taylor

00:29:38.800 he'd been with me since high school and he ended up reverting to islam and his whole family is a 0.99

00:29:44.160 christian so you know he never knew about it but him just being with me this whole time

00:29:47.840 it just got him like i'm i'm hanging out with all these muslims now like i'm loving what they're

00:29:53.300 doing i love their personality i love the way they're doing like now i'm learning more about

00:29:57.340 god and it's helping me more so all right i think that i found my way i got um there's one

00:30:03.460 question that someone's asking i could ask yeah do you have uh pressure to be the the first

00:30:08.260 palestinian ufc champion does that does any of that uh weigh upon you especially like right now

00:30:13.460 the fact that you get this title fight after uh what's going on do you notice a different sense

00:30:19.240 of pressure or is it it's more of a personal uh victory inshallah i mean inshallah but i put my

00:30:26.020 pressure on my myself right i i'm fighting for something bigger but i'm also fighting for my

00:30:32.160 family for my people for the people that that doubt me but especially now obviously it is for

00:30:37.580 palestine it is for for them to have a win right like they they're their perseverance they're uh you

00:30:46.820 know the way that they're fighting right now the way that every single day they're still waking up

00:30:51.040 thankful for god for giving another life it just makes me more grateful every day that i get to

00:30:56.240 wake up and get to train every day i get to wake up and you know i'm blessed to eat whatever i can

00:31:01.800 eat every day so every single day i'm donating to them no matter what um and i'm also donating to

00:31:07.940 them with cash and also donating to them with my work like i'm when i'm in the gym i'm not slacking at

00:31:13.880 all because like i said i know i'm fighting for something bigger i know that me winning this fight

00:31:19.340 isn't just about me winning for me it's me winning for them and for them to have locked in history

00:31:25.440 that they have a palestinian champion locked in history that their flag is going to be connected

00:31:29.280 to a world championship in the ufc and it there's nobody that could erase that there's nothing that

00:31:34.500 could erase that people always ask me why but you're from chicago you're you're you're this you're

00:31:39.340 that and it's like no like they don't have nobody talking for them they don't have nobody speaking

00:31:43.380 for them and i've been a voice for them since i've been in the ufc i've been a voice for them

00:31:46.920 since i got here and me getting messages from you know palestinian children when i first got

00:31:53.260 into the ufc i was like wait dang they're watching me and they're they're paying attention to me and

00:31:57.040 you know being able to see videos that i get from family out there that they're cheering whenever i

00:32:02.320 win it just it's heartwarming because i know that me winning is going to mean so much to them

00:32:11.700 and it's going to be bigger than that we just had my sister works for uh pcrf it's a palestinian 0.67

00:32:16.820 charity and she brought a family here from gaza to do a medical uh procedure a two-year-old got his 0.85

00:32:23.640 kneecap blown off and his dad and him came over here and their mom died in the bombing and uh the

00:32:30.800 dad was like so nervous to ask me for a picture and i was like what and i was like bro let me get a

00:32:35.920 picture with you you're like the real hero right you're you're fighting the real fight like my fight is

00:32:39.720 nothing but like the fact that you know they were seeing me as like a role model he's like i want

00:32:44.480 my son to be like you it's just like makes you want to cry what's one thing that you think that

00:32:51.100 the the average ufc or mma fan doesn't understand or know about you i think i don't think they

00:32:57.600 understand like how hard i work at this like when you see me in person you're like man you're not as

00:33:03.580 big as you look or you're not as this as that and it's like i literally

00:33:07.640 i i mean i overworked to get to where i am today and i wasn't supposed to be here like i'm not

00:33:16.340 supposed to be fighting for the title when you're looking at dang you started that late you don't

00:33:20.580 have this background behind you you don't have this you know this money behind you to help you and

00:33:25.180 your team and push you like that it's like we're a small group in chicago we're a small team in

00:33:29.400 chicago and i've been with the same guys i've been with for the last 10 15 years and uh you know

00:33:36.000 we weren't blessed with the biggest gyms or the biggest uh equipment best equipment around us like

00:33:42.960 we're like a rocky gym we're a small gym and we're a small family and our biggest thing is just hard

00:33:47.980 work and pushing and for myself is mentality and i think that if people realize and they see how hard

00:33:55.180 that work every day they'll they'll respect it what are your uh what about your your reactions

00:33:59.640 to the recent fights like obviously your friend islam just got he just defended the belt again for

00:34:04.480 the what's that this second defense so his third defense third defense i think third defense what

00:34:10.200 was your your take on the last card i mean that was a great fight it was a great card i think

00:34:15.000 like habib said it best right when you go through a war like that it levels you up because people look

00:34:20.820 at islam they think that he can't they think he's just a wrestler but when he goes out there

00:34:24.700 knocks out volkanovsky and he stands toe-to-toe with dustin poirier you realize wait oh he can box

00:34:30.020 and he can strike and uh you know his grappling is another level like right after he tapped out

00:34:36.200 dustin poirier me and my boy uh uh nacho we like both texted each other like see we're not the only

00:34:41.660 ones that tap out to that like he catches me in that darts choke freaking like every single time i roll

00:34:46.680 with him it's he's just so strong there and uh yeah we both like texted each other at the same

00:34:51.080 time but like it just showed you how good he is and i think he he's definitely the powerful guy in

00:34:56.160 the ufc right now skill for skill he's so good um but you know the other fights were were pretty good

00:35:03.700 i'm excited for like the the upcoming cards coming up obviously people are just gonna wait and see

00:35:08.360 what happens with mcgregor and uh chandler if that fight's actually gonna happen or it's not gonna

00:35:12.740 happen but i'm a fan first like when i i literally have a video on my phone you know when you get

00:35:17.740 those facebook memories where uh 15 years ago was my first ufc event we went to go watch it

00:35:22.940 and we snuck down at the mgm grand inside the cage and i was sitting there in the cage and i was like i

00:35:28.540 was that wasn't even amateur fighter yet but i was just like shadow boxing in there and then like we

00:35:32.500 were afraid because we're about to get kicked out but we had that video but it just like sticks with me

00:35:36.820 now because it's like we've come a long way yeah i didn't even know that that you started at 23 years

00:35:42.400 old i'm um i'm 25 about to be 26 you think that the young guy like there's you know i have a young

00:35:48.560 audience you recommend that if these people have mma dreams that they pursue it like you did at that

00:35:52.940 age or is it you know is it too much of an uphill battle no 100 i mean if you had the heart and you

00:35:59.940 had the the drive right because this game is it's ruthless you know there's there's no money in it at

00:36:05.600 the beginning there's nothing in it so it's all about how bad do you want it because you're going to be

00:36:11.540 working you're going to be fighting every single day and the gents try to get better and then once 1.00

00:36:16.860 you actually get your first amateur fight or pro fight like you're going to be making pennies like

00:36:20.580 i was telling my parents they're asking me how much i'm going to pay i was acting like i was

00:36:23.600 going to pay five ten thousand but i was going to pay 250 bucks for my first five or six fights like

00:36:29.120 there i was there was no money in it at all but i was like all right if i lose then i'll stop once i

00:36:33.560 lose then i'll stop and we just kept winning we just kept winning but you just have to have the right

00:36:38.200 team around you the right coaches around you because like my brother i trained my brothers

00:36:43.080 and stuff and they like i had to spar with each other my brother like tore his bicep just sparring

00:36:47.380 with my younger brother and we were just playing around but he tore his bicep because you can get

00:36:50.900 injured here you can get a broken jaw you get a torn bicep torn acl you just have to be willing to pay

00:36:56.780 the price and you have to be fully committed you can't be halfway in if you really want to do it

00:37:01.480 and uh yeah i think that just the keys are just finding that right environment to be around that's

00:37:06.360 going to help you grow and get better and just be ready to do all the work so do you have a specific

00:37:14.400 game plan against leon edwards that that we don't already know yet i've seen uh some i don't know

00:37:19.700 criticism but i saw gilbert was saying like it seems like he he thought that the decision was unfair

00:37:24.540 and some people um do you have um what are your predictions for the the fight against leon or how do

00:37:31.040 you think it's going to be any different from from previous fights i mean honestly i think i go in

00:37:35.300 there and i knock him out uh when i look at my last matchups my stylistic matchups i fought the

00:37:42.440 best striker in the ufc in wonder boy i fought the best grappler in the ufc and damian maya i fought

00:37:49.280 you know great finishers and vicente luke i fought gilbert burns on three weeks notice and

00:37:57.300 i think all those fights they added up to this one fight like i said god's plan right where he wanted me

00:38:04.320 to fight the striker he wanted me to fight the grappler he wanted me to fight the well-rounded

00:38:07.120 guy he wanted me to fight the undefeated guy and sean brady and all those things they just

00:38:11.760 leveled me up and i think right now the the version of myself the best version of myself and i think that

00:38:17.940 leon is going to get in there him and his team there in manchester they're going to be surprised

00:38:22.700 they're going to be in for a rude awakening people will say whatever they want to say but my last full

00:38:27.380 camp i knocked out sean brady the good with this fight was a three weeks notice fight so we're going

00:38:31.680 off my last full camp it was a knockout this fight i'm going to knock out leon edwards we've been

00:38:35.800 training for this guy for two years yeah you're you've definitely prepared and you you know exactly

00:38:40.920 what um and also i don't think i've ever seen you this discipline before a fight like you seem a hundred

00:38:45.400 percent ready there doesn't seem like there's any um it doesn't seem like there's any sort of

00:38:50.700 apprehension it seems like you have full confidence going forward is that true yeah 100 right the the

00:38:55.760 biggest key was getting the fight now that we got the fight now it's over now he made the mistake

00:39:00.580 right his biggest mistake was saying yes to the fight like you already made me mad but now you said

00:39:06.760 yes now it's over now now there's a contract now i haven't got to do nothing else now i gotta do

00:39:10.880 nothing else to try to pressure you or talk trash you to get this fight it's already done now it's over

00:39:15.820 for you what are your predictions for um i'm wondering what guys like you think about like the

00:39:22.040 influencer stuff like when guys like me get in and uh and fight strickland and for you know on the

00:39:27.300 stream or jake paul is fighting mike tyson well do you think that that disrespects the art and the

00:39:33.520 discipline that you put in day in day out no right because it brings views to the to the sport right

00:39:40.060 to the sport of boxing jake paul like he you can tell he puts the work in for yourself you stood toe

00:39:45.520 to toe with him right he was trying to knock you out and you took his best shot for and like i said 0.99

00:39:50.320 i told you not to do it because the guy's a moron and i knew that he wasn't going to give you 0.99

00:39:55.560 those looks like a marabba or al joe where they understand that you're just starting out or like 0.98

00:40:00.960 even like jake shield where he rolls with you and you want to teach somebody like sean was going in

00:40:05.740 there to try to hurt you and you still stood up you didn't fold and you didn't back down until

00:40:10.080 forrest griffin stepped in there so i think that you got to respect that if anybody's willing to get

00:40:15.760 in the cage or get willing to get in the ring and throw it on i respect it no matter what and i

00:40:20.640 i used to be a trainer at ufc gym and i like i know how hard it is for just normal people to go

00:40:26.040 in there and it takes a lot of guts to go in there especially for you to go in there with uh at the

00:40:31.000 time what was the the 85 champion so it's like the fact that you did it just shows that you're man

00:40:37.900 enough to do it and i think that especially with these influencers now uh that are taking it serious

00:40:43.100 and really trying to get better at it it's only going to bring views to boxing and i don't think

00:40:48.240 the mike tyson one's actually going to happen i think they just announced like uh jake paul and

00:40:51.580 mike perry right now oh mike tyson backed out completely i think so i think that uh i just saw

00:40:57.380 perry and uh jake paul just got pushed or announced but i think mike tyson he was i mean

00:41:02.860 he's 60 years old he has uh medical problems i was like you gotta be careful yeah that one's a little

00:41:08.720 bit ridiculous so if that does if that did happen who do you think wins i mean i'm going with age

00:41:14.860 no matter what because even with the the mike tyson when he just fought right he he looked old

00:41:19.340 and i know that he's posting videos of himself killing the pads and stuff like that but i'm like

00:41:24.620 boom pads don't hit back and you're gonna fight this younger kid who's uh who's got knockout power 0.77

00:41:29.900 right and he's been in the ring it's like i love mike tyson i just don't want him to freaking fight a

00:41:34.420 young kid and it's highly edited every every video that you see it's like he's hitting the pads but

00:41:38.440 there's literally a jump cut every 0.2 seconds between the punches it's like what was happening between

00:41:42.920 those edits yeah i tell people that all the time right i was like bro when people post their pad

00:41:47.700 sessions post a real session like ronda rousey used to look like she was the best boxer in the world 0.99

00:41:53.040 on her pads but then she would get in the fight and she like her hands were awful and i i tell people 1.00

00:41:58.680 that it's like don't look at the pads thinking that man that's that's a great time because i give

00:42:02.660 it myself i'll sit there oh let me post the perfect spot for me hitting this combo right and you learn

00:42:08.300 the combo you push the combo but it's like let me see the sparring video let me see the the real

00:42:13.080 fight videos anybody can look out on the pads it's pretty and all the trainers know how to do it

00:42:17.640 especially with social media they'll like train specifically for you to get a combo so that when you

00:42:22.300 post it uh you look really good but yeah i almost uh sometimes i forget that you were there when i fought

00:42:27.420 strickland what are your um what do you think i i should work on the most like what do you think is

00:42:32.540 the angle obviously i'm a brand new beginner but what should i do or what would you tell guys

00:42:37.420 on my level to train uh the most and to focus on i mean i would say find a the a gym where you're

00:42:45.240 going to have guys that are really going to want to teach you right where if i'm sparring you can

00:42:48.660 spar like 20 30 at most so you get comfortable looking at punches seeing punches um like i said i

00:42:55.260 train my brothers and cousins all the time i would do like a night class with them guys and i would let

00:43:00.800 them spar each other but i was like all right we're going light or i would spar with them and

00:43:03.860 i was like all right hit me throw a punch at me or i'll go hard to the body uh just so they

00:43:08.240 understand and feel it and they know but your biggest things i think are just obviously work

00:43:14.740 on defense work on footwork and i think fundamentals is key to anybody starting out people look at

00:43:19.800 shadow boxing and they don't really understand what shadow boxing is shadow boxing is to help you

00:43:24.700 with the discipline of your footwork discipline of punching or putting your hand out there and

00:43:29.100 bring it right back to your chin and i think even with pro fighters a lot of these guys don't even

00:43:33.260 really know how to shadow box but at my gym we do all the little fundamental stuff and it's like the

00:43:38.480 tedious work where you get bored of it or tired of it but that's the stuff that's gonna pay dividends

00:43:43.100 inside of the fight yeah i think one trainer told me i don't know if this is true but it's like

00:43:48.100 if you're only 20 or 10 of your punches land in a fight then the other 70 80 you're shadow boxing

00:43:54.080 you know the other 90 you're shadow boxing so you should train on that the most because that's the

00:43:58.480 majority of your punches are going to be shadow boxing yeah 100 like a lot of these guys they

00:44:03.520 can't shadow box for five minutes straight or they can't throw punches on a heavy bag for five minutes

00:44:07.920 straight they'll get gassed out or tired of it and that's where guys get most tired when they throw

00:44:12.080 a big punch and they miss right like you want to see these guys miss like the muhammad ali uh george 0.66

00:44:17.640 former right let him hit me again i'm defending blocking everything but this guy's getting tired this

00:44:22.880 guy's breaking this guy's folding because he's missing big whips throwing punches that are hitting my

00:44:28.120 elbows and uh like that's where you get all that energy from it's from shadow boxing that conditioning

00:44:32.580 from shadow boxing and uh i think that's like a lost art of the sport would you fight in another

00:44:40.580 muslim people are begging me to ask if you're gonna fight shavkat or you know i've heard you say that 0.99

00:44:46.700 before um like if islam went up to to welterweight like that you wouldn't fight him but what's your 0.86

00:44:53.140 your your thoughts on fighting fellow muslims i mean obviously i wouldn't want to fight fellow 1.00

00:44:58.460 muslims i would definitely wouldn't fight islam because it's like right now that's my brother 1.00

00:45:01.900 that's my i would never want to fight him and i would never fight him um but early on i think uh 0.98

00:45:08.600 me and hems that were at a point we were close to fighting a lot of times we were talking trash back

00:45:12.740 and forth and i was just like we're both hungry for the same thing right we were both fighting for the

00:45:17.880 we both want the gold and when you're at that level now where it's just a sport so i don't have

00:45:23.920 to hate you to fight you a lot of the guys that i fought i respect it so if i do end up fighting

00:45:27.920 shavkat or any of these guys it's going to be respect but like we're both wanting to fight the same

00:45:32.540 thing fight for the same thing uh but i'm not going to talk trash at all i'm not going to disrespect

00:45:37.680 another muslim or you know get to that level of having to sell a fight with that right i think 1.00

00:45:43.780 he's a monster he's a beast so i want to fight you and beat you to see how good i am 0.99

00:45:50.120 so if it happens then then it happens you know this not this is just a sport yeah 100 i think 0.95

00:45:57.260 especially right now at the top of the division it's basically going to be him fighting the winner

00:46:03.080 this fight so it's for me beating leon i know that he's next and like i said for my legacy now for my

00:46:10.580 what i want to leave the people with and the fans with is to say that i fought all the toughest guys

00:46:15.760 and i beat all the toughest guys when they were at their highest level a lot of the guys i fought

00:46:19.680 were on winning streaks when i beat them yeah they were off wins they weren't off losses and i want to

00:46:25.440 have that resume where people look at it and be like he's up there with the george st pierre he's even

00:46:31.460 getting above better above him like he fought this guy that was undefeated now let me get another

00:46:36.400 undefeated guy on my resume and like i said what are people going to say

00:46:39.980 why how does he just keep winning what is he what is he doing that we're not doing i want people to

00:46:45.920 come and ask me those questions what about um hamzat's fight that reminds me hamzat's fighting

00:46:52.420 whitaker soon what's your predictions on that who you got man i got hamzat in that i think especially

00:46:59.980 the way that you know he handled usman that first round it just showed you how good he is with his

00:47:05.880 wrestling and his grappling and how strong he is and i know people say that he used the gases after

00:47:10.340 the first round uh but usman's a beast usman's tough i don't care if people say that it was two

00:47:14.740 week fight he's still a former champion he's still really good i just think that hamzat's style is 1.00

00:47:21.420 gonna be too much for whitaker because we've seen whitaker get out grappled by duplessis and uh you

00:47:27.200 know taken down and controlled in the first round by duplessis i think hamzat who is tough on the feet

00:47:31.620 but i think if he gets him down he'll be too much for him have you been to that area of the world

00:47:35.900 that's like one of my uh my dream streams would be to go to dagestan or and i've trained with mobstar

00:47:41.120 you've left before and he's from english adia hamzat is from uh what's the area that he's from again

00:47:47.480 forget the name this is he from uh chesnia yeah from chesnia have you been to that area of the world

00:47:53.340 like the the caucus mountains no i i mean habib was actually uh bringing me out wanted to bring me

00:47:58.960 out there for this camp but then we were looking at the the time zones and stuff and it was like

00:48:03.100 the fight's gonna be on american time zone so uh i need to stay on american time i think the

00:48:08.360 dagestan time zone was two hours uh difference from london time zone um so yeah i think after this

00:48:15.140 camp for sure i'm gonna go out there uh and train with them and just get that feel because i talked

00:48:19.160 to a bunch of guys that have gone and will here it tells me it's a different level out there and just

00:48:23.880 to be able to like be immersed into all of that right like i said just the spirituality the

00:48:30.500 brotherhood everything over there and then being by them guys it's gonna be another level it seems

00:48:35.700 like a whole way of life like it's almost like they they take mma so seriously it almost is a

00:48:40.600 a religion supplementary uh obviously beneath islam it's like there's it's like another um religion

00:48:47.120 what do you think is the the biggest lesson or something that you've learned uh training with

00:48:51.460 those guys that you could communicate to other americans because i think people often forget

00:48:55.260 like when you hear the way that strickland talks about you or the perception you have it's like

00:48:58.500 people forget like you're you're from chicago you know you're not from palisine you're an american

00:49:02.880 but being with those people who are from like it's almost like a different planet the way that they 1.00

00:49:07.400 operate out there was it what's a lesson that you learned that you could uh you could share with

00:49:11.600 other americans i mean i think the biggest thing like i've learned from from those guys is like

00:49:18.560 there's no secret sauce it's literally just hard work it's it's discipline and it's waking up every

00:49:26.460 day with the the mindset i think they all have the mindset uh habib and all them guys with every round

00:49:32.760 they want to win every single practice round they want to win every single exchange that you guys that

00:49:38.060 we have okay like i said when you when you get comfortable with the guys in your gym you're training

00:49:41.760 with the guys in your gym you have those rounds where you're just like you want to play around or you

00:49:46.380 want to those days that you go to the gym you don't feel like working out and your partner sees it and

00:49:51.340 he lets you take off like those guys they hold everybody accountable and there's no days off

00:49:56.420 there's no rounds off like you are you're gonna lose this round you're gonna get beat up for that

00:50:01.440 whole round it's not like oh you know he's tired today let me go softer on him nope they're gonna go

00:50:06.820 harder on you they're gonna make you push yourself and uh they all have a different they all have that

00:50:12.480 stronger mentality i think that a lot of these guys nowadays don't have like i said we're people

00:50:18.980 in america don't know how you know easy we have it right just you have to be more grateful every

00:50:24.880 single day for the life that you have because you can wake up every day to have whatever you want to

00:50:30.340 eat you can't have you wake up every day to have heat cold water hot water and i think that you know

00:50:36.300 we're kind of coddled in that sense where we're like we just don't appreciate the little things

00:50:41.840 and we complain about the stupid things right oh traffic is terrible today oh man why is it so hot 0.98

00:50:47.540 today man i'm so this or that or this or that we complain about dumb stuff uh but i think it just 0.99

00:50:53.960 my mind opens up to like just shut up like you're blessed every day that you you have on this earth

00:51:02.260 you're blessed so start appreciating that and don't take it for granted and don't take this

00:51:07.320 sport for granted and this life that god gave you for granted because i get to wake up every day and

00:51:11.020 do something that i love every day and i'm not going to waste it i'm not going to sit there and

00:51:14.820 take any days off or waste any time uh because it is a short window and i had this platform and i know

00:51:22.500 that if i lose this fight there's going to be so many haters and people complaining and they're going

00:51:26.320 to talk about palestine and this and that so i have to win for them i have to win for myself

00:51:30.560 have you noticed uh yourself becoming more humbled well one thing that surprised me saying that

00:51:37.040 you're you're sparring and you're you're rolling with some guys that are like 1920 nameless fighters

00:51:41.140 uh and they're they're winning and you got a title fight coming up so like how does your ego come into

00:51:46.480 play there i mean i i never had a big ego right i never was one of those guys that i always was one

00:51:54.400 of those guys that like if you're you're beating everybody in the practice room you're in the wrong

00:51:57.580 room like you should have guys in the practice room that could beat you up or i should be losing

00:52:03.240 rounds every single day in the gym uh otherwise you're not going to grow you're not going to get

00:52:07.200 better me being able to go with those guys i grew so much uh when i when i trained for the sean

00:52:13.640 brady fight i grew so much from that and it just made me that much better like when i first started

00:52:18.600 fighting it was just me and my my high school coach uh lewis taylor and uh he was a fighter too he's a

00:52:24.380 pfl middleweight champion but he would kill me every single day like when i first started

00:52:28.660 he was my teacher and he was my sparring partner and he was my grappling partner he was everything

00:52:33.020 it was just us two and he just beat the crap out of me so i learned from the beginning that

00:52:37.320 you're not this you're not a king right you're you're not the at the top of the mountain already

00:52:42.720 you have to keep climbing every single day you have to keep growing every single day

00:52:46.000 and that's what i learned if you see that's what i told myself as i was getting beat up by these

00:52:51.640 younger guys yeah like i'm still behind i'm not ahead yet i'm never going to be ahead of these

00:52:56.900 guys so i have to keep working twice as hard every single day to catch up yeah i gotta listening to

00:53:04.460 this it's like a my discipline definitely needs like to get to that level to get to that title shot

00:53:09.480 also to see like how disciplined you were to stay patient after all that time of them like pretty much

00:53:14.480 in my opinion and snubbing you for for that the title shot and you finally getting what you deserve

00:53:19.580 that must have uh must have not been easy i probably would have would have like been publicly

00:53:24.560 angry a lot quicker than you yeah right but that's that's what having the right people around you is

00:53:30.360 like my family my team my coach i've seen a lot i've learned a lot from him because he never got a

00:53:37.600 shot in the ufc and he was like on a 10 fight winning streak at one point with like all first round

00:53:42.700 finishes and you know he was getting to the point where he was getting like he was like 40 years old

00:53:47.840 he was about to retire and he was like i'm never going to get my shot i'm never going to get my

00:53:51.200 shot but we just kept pushing and pushing and pushing and then eventually pfl gave him a spot

00:53:57.200 in the tournament and he won the tournament at 42 years old uh and won a million dollars and won his

00:54:01.980 title and retired on top of the world right so seeing his story it tells me that and he would

00:54:08.260 always bring it up to me like it's gonna happen at the right time be patient don't don't rush stop

00:54:14.240 thinking about it enjoy the journey right now go to these fights you know hang with the fans

00:54:18.820 you're at the top of your number two in the world right now there's nobody that's going to take that

00:54:23.000 away from you dana white gave you his word and he's a man of his word so trust his word that's it

00:54:28.780 trust his word trust god and just be patient so i literally had on my phone screen the whole time

00:54:34.300 be patient be patient so i was just telling myself every day be patient reading it you know

00:54:39.520 having it planted in me and then when it happened it was like a huge relief it was like a weight off

00:54:45.940 your shoulders because i was getting asked that question every single day well when is the fight

00:54:49.400 kevin my mom when is the fight happening like my brothers my sister like when is the fight you're

00:54:54.780 gonna do this what's it good like one of the let me call your manager let me talk to this guy

00:54:59.620 and i'm like chill relax stop stop stop like like i said trying to just live in the moment every day is

00:55:07.000 hard when you you look thinking about the future right because i want to be the champion so bad

00:55:12.900 and it took me so so long to get here and i was like once it finally happened it's like all right

00:55:17.720 now we got it but the job's not done now we got to win the fight people are giving me congrats to

00:55:25.860 get in the fight but it's like i gotta win the fight i don't care about getting the fight i gotta

00:55:29.700 win the fight i think i didn't congratulate you for getting the the title shot that's fine i didn't know

00:55:33.780 that your background was be patient that must have been like your phone back is it still say that

00:55:37.520 yeah yeah yeah i was thinking that like the the level of uh discipline is incredible what where do

00:55:43.860 you think you you could attribute that to and also the last time i think i saw you in person was

00:55:47.460 uh at ufc uh 298 it was right before i think the day before ramadan and then right after that i flew

00:55:53.420 to saudi and i spent um that whole month um dedicating my life and like the concept to islam

00:55:59.180 how was your ramadan it was amazing uh being able to like i said where it was full focus i didn't

00:56:06.960 have a camp during it and that was like a blessing in disguise where people are like are you gonna

00:56:11.100 fight 300 and i was like telling myself maybe god was made it not happen so i could enjoy ramadan

00:56:17.420 for the first time without a camp or having to worry about any other things it was like full dedication

00:56:22.720 because ramadan is the best time of the year like you learn so much about yourself and you just feel

00:56:30.420 so like a huge cleansing after it's done that it was like i've had to do like multiple camps during it

00:56:37.160 and it's way different because you can't enjoy it because you're always sitting there thinking about

00:56:41.020 the fight and then you have to diet when it's time to eat then you have to do this and you have to

00:56:45.020 train while you're fasted and it's one of the hardest things in the world to do so be able to just

00:56:48.840 enjoy this ramadan it was like one of my first times in a while i was able to enjoy it so it was

00:56:53.060 a blessing did you train yeah i i trained uh during it but like when i'm in camp it's a different it's

00:57:00.280 a different type of training so i got to go harder but now this time it's like now i'll take rounds off

00:57:04.460 and i won't go as hard and i'll just do you know one session instead of two sessions yeah now you're

00:57:11.220 doing you're doing three a day but during ramadan so what's the schedule like that was like the

00:57:14.960 hardest thing for me to balance before then i was training every day ramadan hit it's

00:57:18.760 like you know i i drink a lot of water i get really sweaty so i had to schedule like right

00:57:23.600 before iftar try to like and then immediately shower and then and then feast after what what

00:57:28.680 what does your schedule look like yeah like if i don't have a fight then i'm training just one time

00:57:35.220 in the morning at 10 30 a.m so i try to train at 10 30 and then probably after like the third day

00:57:40.200 my body gets used to not having water or having food uh and then at night once uh i you know break

00:57:46.820 my fats and everything then i'll after i eat it drink it i have to put the right electrolytes in

00:57:50.920 me uh but then i'll go like on a jog or hit weights or something at night on uh random days but like

00:57:57.540 you cut off sparring during ramadan you don't want to get hit in the head when you're you know you're

00:58:02.140 dehydrated so you don't want to get any cussions but a lot of my stuff is just more drilling and just

00:58:06.620 working the fundamentals of the sport and just getting better in areas where you know i could grow in

00:58:12.340 yeah that's that was i can't imagine like training at 10 30 and then just not having water all day

00:58:18.160 that's that's insanity to me but you know yeah your body is honestly your body just gets used to it

00:58:23.780 like your body starts realizing it and like even with the gilbert burns fight it was last year they

00:58:28.020 called me and it was like the last two weeks of ramadan and it was like i had to like snap right

00:58:33.200 into it and like my body i feel like people you don't realize how strong your body is until your

00:58:42.060 mind pushes it there because your mind is stronger than your body you people quit on you uh you're

00:58:47.460 quitting your mind before your body will quit on you right so you push yourself even when you tell

00:58:51.760 yourself you're gonna go on like a two mile jog you can probably go four miles if you told yourself

00:58:56.380 that beforehand if i tell myself i'm not gonna drink or eat in the morning i know i can push myself to

00:59:00.820 that level well thanks for for coming on i think this was a good um example of discipline and

00:59:09.700 staying patient and uh obviously i would love to to show up maybe i'll try to make it out there and

00:59:14.520 when's the fight july it's in july july 27th yeah july 27th in manchester for sure bro yeah come down

00:59:22.000 and hit up chicago if you've never been here we'll get some training in yeah i would love to go to

00:59:26.080 chicago um but i don't know how like you obviously you're probably extremely busy this is the final

00:59:30.780 coming weeks before for the title shot yeah no yeah 100 yeah like after the fight you'll come

00:59:37.060 down here we'll get some real training in bush we'll go downtown we'll chill out a little bit

00:59:40.480 i would love to do it and also yeah i'll try to make it out to manchester if possible and i

00:59:44.900 seeing uh one of our brothers become a champion like that would be a great pleasure thanks for

00:59:50.660 coming on i highly appreciate you best of luck and um yeah my Allah bless you bro thanks for coming

00:59:55.640 on thank you brother shall we see you soon bro all right salam alaikum

00:59:58.340 don't be bala muhammad bro let's go

01:00:01.920 don't be bala muhammad bro let's go

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SNEAKO - June 13, 2024

SNEAKO Interviews Belal Muhammad

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