Alan Jouban says Belal Muhammad can’t fight Ian Machado Garry the same way he did Jack Della Maddalena.
Former welterweight champion Muhammad (24-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) faces Machado Garry (16-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) in the UFC Fight Night 265 co-main event on Nov. 22 at ABHA Arena in Doha, Qatar (ESPN+).
Muhammad lost his welterweight title to Della Maddalena at UFC 315. He opted to stand and strike with Della Maddalena first, before trying to implement his wrestling. He wound up getting outstruck in a unanimous decision loss.
Jouban warns Muhammad not to do the same vs. Machado Garry.
“This matchup, for me, is: Which Belal is going to show up? And I don’t know if that necessarily dictates if he’s going to win or not,” Jouban told ESPN MMA. “But the Belal before the JDM fight was able to take down every single person, even some of our best grapplers in the UFC. He was dumping them on their head.
“We didn’t see that Belal against JDM. He thought was going to come out and be Canelo (Alvarez) with the hands, and it did not work out. He tried to get to the wrestling a little bit too late. In this matchup, he needs to go to the wrestling early from the start of the bell against Ian Machado Garry. He’s too tall, too fast on the feet.”
The loss to Della Maddalena snapped Muhammad’s 11-fight unbeaten streak, which included wins over Leon Edwards and Sean Brady.
