Belal Muhammad is being made to wait in his quest to climb the UFC welterweight ladder.

Muhammad (17-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) was scheduled to face Dhiego Lima last weekend at UFC Fight Night 183, but was forced to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19.

Initially targeting a return on the UFC’s first event of 2021, Muhammad realized that might not be feasible after getting hit fairly hard with COVID-19 symptoms.

Before Muhammad was booked to face Lima, he drew another unranked opponent in Sean Brady, but Brady was forced to pull out and he was replaced by Lima. So whether or not the UFC decides to rebook him against Lima, all Muhammad knows is that, if he gets a win next time out, he’d like a ranked opponent next.

“It all depends on whether Lima wants to wait or not,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie Radio. “This thing pushed me back a little bit just because if I do end up having to fight Lima again, I have a set plan where it’s like, ‘Alright, I beat Lima and now I finally get a ranked guy.’ I got my number now, he came up, basically got lucky because he got a ranked opponent now. It took me forever to get a ranked opponent, he got a ranked opponent so it’s all on him if he wants to wait for me to get healthy and fight me because your goal is to be in the rankings. So if he wants to wait for me, that’s a ranked guy, so why not wait for me?

“But if he doesn’t, cool, I don’t really care. I don’t have anything personal or anything against him. I just want a name, I want somebody to fight, and I wanna move up that ladder. I want to keep moving up that ladder. For me, the only thing that’s heartbreaking is I would have fought him, if I would have beat him, my next fight for sure would have been against a ranked guy. So let’s see who the UFC gives me now, (and see) what they’re thinking now.”

Muhammad admits that though Lima (15-7 MMA, 4-5 UFC) is unranked, it would be convenient if they rescheduled that fight, considering that he was already in training camp for him.

“If it’s gonna be Lima again, I was already training for him, so hopefully that will be a lot easier if we could just do that and then pop that up in February real quick.”

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/ufc-news-belal-muhammad-wants-ranked-opposition-after-dhiego-lima

The UFC may return to network television as soon as Jan. 16 to kick off its slate of events in 2021.

UFC Fight Island 7 features former featherweight champion Max Holloway squaring off against No. 6 ranked Calvin Kattar in the main event. It takes place on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, the first of three UFC events over an eight-day span that culminates in Conor McGregor’s return to rematch Dustin Poirier in the UFC 257 main event on Jan. 23.

If plans are finalized, UFC Fight Island 7 would air on ABC’s broadcast network. It would mark the first time the UFC airs on network television since the company parted ways with FOX and moved to ESPN.

It is not yet clear how many bouts would air on ABC or how the remaining preliminary bouts would be scheduled across ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN+.

ABC and the ESPN family of channels are all owned by The Walt Disney Company.

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufc-angling-to-kick-off-2021-on-abc

Less than 24 hours after giving notice that he was going to explore free agency, former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis inked a new deal. He will be fighting under the PFL MMA banner beginning with the 2021 season, which kicks off on April 23 on ESPN2.

“I am excited to announce that the PFL has signed two-time world champion, Anthony Pettis,” said Peter Murray, CEO of the Professional Fighters League, in announcing Pettis’s signing. “Not only is Anthony a transcendent athlete within the sport of MMA, but he is also an innovator in the cage who is known for his charismatic fighting style and determination to win. I am confident that Anthony will bring that ‘wow’ factor into every matchup he participates in over the course of our season format, and we’re excited for him to join the PFL family.”

Having been a champion with Zuffa LLC under the WEC banner and the UFC banner, Pettis is a tremendous addition to the PFL’s roster.

“I am really looking forward to this next big challenge after signing with the PFL to compete in the lightweight division.” said Pettis. “I’m super impressed with what the PFL has built, how they are growing the sport, and the amazing talent they have added. I’ve been watching the Brazilian guy [Natan] Schulte who is the champion and he is really good but there isn’t anyone I’m scared of.

“The season format is great; I think it will be an amazing new journey for me and to get to wrap it up over the course of one year will be awesome. I can’t wait to get another world championship to add to my collection.”

Pettis is the latest in a string of prominent fighters that have inked deals with the PFL. Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum recently signed to fight for PFL, as well as world champion boxer Clarissa Shields.

The PFL’s 2021 season will begin on April 23 on ESPN2. The remaining Regular Season events will take place on April 29, May 6, June 10, June 17, and June 25.

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