Belal Muhammad Vows to Walk Out with Palestinian Flag at UFC 315: ‘Nothing Will Stop Me’
Chicago (Quds News Network)- Belal Muhammad, the professional mixed martial arts champion of Palestinian descent, will make his way to the octagon with the Palestinian flag wrapped over his shoulders as he prepares to defend his welterweight title for the first time at UFC 315 in Montreal on May 10.
While he has carried the flag with him in previous fights, there was some question about whether or not he would be allowed after the flag was briefly removed from his UFC profile. The flag was later restored with Muhammad stating that it was just a mistake that the UFC quickly rectified.
“People keep asking me, ‘Where’s your flag?’ I kept getting multiple messages from it, and I was just assuming it was a mistake, but it’s still not addressed,” Muhammad said in a video posted to X. “So I’ll address it and hope that Dana addresses it as well and fixes it.”
“Yeah, 100 percent,” Muhammad told MMA about walking out with the Palestinian flag. “We’ve talked about it and they’ve accepted it. Nothing is going to stop me from doing it.”
Muhammad, 36-year-old American fighter born in Chicago and the child of two Palestinian immigrants, has been very outspoken about the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza. He’s run fundraisers and shown his support for Palestine through interviews and social media.
He plans to do the same in the days leading up to his fight against Jack Della Maddalena.
“It’s hard, especially right now,” Muhammad said. “It’s been over two years now where they’re dying, they’re starving, the people over there are in so much pain. The world’s just watching it. The world’s just coming up with excuses for it. It’s wild.”
As much as defending the UFC title means to him, Muhammad promises he’s always going to be fighting for something bigger, especially with reports that people living in the Gaza strip have had no medicine, fuel or food transported there for the past 60 days after Israel blocked all humanitarian aid from entering the enclave amid accusations of using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinains.
Despite the harrowing conditions, Muhammad revealed previously that he still received messages of support and congratulations after he won his UFC title this past July. That has served as even more motivation for him ahead of the title fight at UFC 315.
“For me, it just makes me want to work that much harder for them,” Muhammad said. “It makes me go to the gym, run that extra mile, lift that extra weight. Because I can’t lose. There’s no way I’m going to let the people see me not get my hand raised.
When they see me fight that day, they’re going to see that flag get raised. When they see me win that day, they’re going to see that flag get raised. They’re going to see me get on the mic and talk about them. They’re going to see me get on the mic and be a voice for them.”
“The only way I can be their voice is by continuing to win. I just have to keep continuing to work, keep continuing to push it and it’s all in god’s hands. God has a plan for everything and I’m hoping this finally comes to an end soon.”
