Belal Muhammad just keeps winning and the MMA world has taken notice.
Make it eight straight fights without a loss for Muhammad, who defeated Vicente Luque by unanimous decision in the main event of UFC Vegas 51 on Saturday. The win was even sweeter for Muhammad as he avenged a November 2016 loss to Luque, which remains the only time that Muhammad has been stopped.
Muhammad — the No. 6 welterweight in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings who will jump up at least one spot ahead of Luque after Saturday’s result — used a wrestling-heavy attack to defuse the dangerous Luque and many of his peers applauded him for perfectly executing his game plan.
See what fighters had to say about the main event on social media plus the controversial ending to Caio Borralho vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev, the second fight of the night that went to a technical decision as the result of a late foul.
Belal Muhammad def. Vicente Luque
I have to give Belal some credit for coming back from a Tko loss and getting some revenge Impressive display of courage.
— Justin Gaethje (@Justin_Gaethje) April 17, 2022
Remember the name @bullyb170
— Anthony Pettis (@Showtimepettis) April 17, 2022
Remember the name!!!!!! @bullyb170 @ufc
— player/coach (@CMPunk) April 17, 2022
Wrestling, wrestling, wrestling. Oh yea, and wrestling! #UFCVegas51 https://t.co/q8HvDUy8WE
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) April 17, 2022
My guy!!!!!! @bullyb170 !!!!!!!!
— RAUFEON (@RaufeonStots) April 17, 2022
This fight is crazy ! Let’s go @bullyb170 !! Mad respect taking a #mainevent fight during #Ramadan ! #UFCFightNight
— Julianna Peña (@VenezuelanVixen) April 17, 2022
Congrats brotha @bullyb170 way to grind it out #UFCVegas51
— Terrance ‘T Wrecks’ McKinney (@twrecks155) April 17, 2022
Belal is 2-for-2 on his takedowns due to great timing, but Luque needs more resistance than that. Muhammed has won the first two rounds #UFCVegas51
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) April 17, 2022
Bounce back round for Luque. He's dominating on the feet, but needs to defend these takedowns better if he's gonna win the fight! #UFCVegas51
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) April 17, 2022
Can Luque stop Belal Muhammad's takedown attempts? That's what this 5th round, and possibly entire fight comes down to. #UFCVegas51
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) April 17, 2022
.@bullyb170 stuck to his gameplan for 25 minutes. Love it or hate it, he relied on his strengths and it won him this fight! #UFCVegas51
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) April 17, 2022
Y'all saying "bOriNg" have no idea how hard it is to grapple for 25 minutes. Shit is exhausting. Props for bouncing back @bullyb170! #UFCVegas51
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) April 17, 2022
Great job @bullyb170 . Gotta always respect the wrestling. #UFCVegas51
— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) April 17, 2022
My man @bullyb170 stuck to his game plan. Stayed composed. Perfect execution against an always dangerous Luque
— Jared Gordon (@JFlashGordonMMA) April 17, 2022
High level strategic fight #lugueVSmuhammad2#UFCVegas51
— GIGA CHIKADZE (@giga_chikadze) April 17, 2022
Completely different fight @bullyb170 looking like a G got him 3-0 maybe 2-1 @ufc
— Damon Jackson (@damonbjackson) April 17, 2022
Well done belal fought hard and figure it out good main event
— C H T O V E R A (@chitoveraUFC) April 17, 2022
Muhammad needs to last until the 5th round and throw an illegal knee. It will stop the fight early and you’ll win on the score cards. #UFCVegas51
— Julian marquez (@JMarquezMMA) April 17, 2022
Belal will be looking for that 4th round accidental eye extraction ..
— Big Ben Rothwell (@RothwellFighter) April 17, 2022
Incredible fight. 2 warriors!
— Dan “50k” Ige (@Dynamitedan808) April 17, 2022
The Chiesa Curse is real. #UFCVegas51
— Michael Chiesa (@MikeMav22) April 17, 2022
Caio Borralho def. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev
I like Borralho, but how do you get a win here? I’m super confused… sucks that the ref you have for the night pretty much dictates how a foul is interpreted. No consistency. Should be a NC at best. #UFCVegas51
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) April 17, 2022
I hope y’all give him the SAME treatment y’all gave me. Because apparently those knees don’t hurt ♂️ Keep that same energy, folks!#UFCVegas51
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) April 17, 2022
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) April 17, 2022
Guess we’re all actors! #UFCVegas51 pic.twitter.com/qd2OPR8mVN
So win 2 rounds, throw unintentional illegal strike and then hope they guy can’t continue. So that y’all go to judges right then. Shit you don’t run the risk of losing
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) April 17, 2022
I think at the very least it should be a no contest. Borralho was the better fighter. He committed a foul that ended the fight. You can argue unintentional but it should be irrelevant. I don’t understand. It should go down as a DQ win for his opponent. You’re not discouraging…
— Justin Gaethje (@Justin_Gaethje) April 17, 2022
Others in the future and you are almost encouraging a fighter to take this route. The stakes are too high and ppl cheat. That is why this situation is in the rule book, probably an entire section.
— Justin Gaethje (@Justin_Gaethje) April 17, 2022
To add even more confusion, the legality of this knee specifically is different from state to state ffs.
— Justin Gaethje (@Justin_Gaethje) April 17, 2022
Win 2 rounds solid, hold’em down real good. 3rd round , kick that motherfucker as hard as you can square in the nuts. Win
— Big Ben Rothwell (@RothwellFighter) April 17, 2022
What did I just witness???? #UFCVegas51
— Ian Heinisch (@ianheinischmma) April 17, 2022
Glad @caioborralho got the win. He deserved it, and Ghadzi was trying to protect the undefeated record by exaggerating the illegal strike to get a NC #ufc @ufc
— Sean O'Connell (@realOCsports) April 17, 2022
This is the first time I've ever bet money on a fight lol Caio Borralho vs Gadhiz omargadzhiev..... I trained with both these guys back to back so if I'm wrong I'm going to be absolutely shocked lol
— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) April 17, 2022
This whole no contest nonsense is confusing. So you can illegally strike someone and still win now bc it’s the 3rd round
— Brian BOOM Kelleher (@brianboom135) April 17, 2022
Andre Fialho def. Miguel Baeza
That finish #UFCVegas51
— Terrance ‘T Wrecks’ McKinney (@twrecks155) April 17, 2022
Baeza is so much fun to watch but has shown to be defensively irresponsible these last few fights. #UFCVegas51
— Michael Chiesa (@MikeMav22) April 17, 2022
My dude!!! @andrefialhojr1
— Jared Gordon (@JFlashGordonMMA) April 17, 2022
Sick 1 round fight! Woe #UFCVegas51
— Vince Morales (@vandetta135) April 17, 2022
Mayra Bueno Silva def. Wu Yanan
Congratulations @MayraSheetara @canalCombate pic.twitter.com/FcpRgLGV0o
— @CrisCyborg.Com Fight Week #Bellator279 (@criscyborg) April 17, 2022
The woman fights have been the best tonight.#UFCvegas51
— Ode' Osbourne (@OdeOsbourne) April 17, 2022
Yeah!! I wanna see it! #UFCVegas51 #ufc https://t.co/NjWLy7WGIP
— Roxanne Modafferi (@Roxyfighter) April 17, 2022
Great Wunanimous dec win by Bueno Silva! #UFCVegas51
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) April 17, 2022
30-27 ♀️
— Yana Kunitskaya (@YanaKunitskaya1) April 17, 2022
Pat Sabatini def. T.J. Laramie
Pat Sabatini! #UFCVegas51
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) April 17, 2022
I say give Sabatini the push. Give him Edson Barboza or Ryan Hall. #UFCVegas51
— Michael Chiesa (@MikeMav22) April 17, 2022
GOT HIM HURT! BETTER JUMP ON HIS NECK! Lol
— David Rickels (@TheCaveman316) April 17, 2022
Possible 10-8 #UFCVegas51
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) April 17, 2022
Mounir Lazzez def. Ange Loosa
What a banger
— Jamahal Hill (@JamahalH) April 17, 2022
Beautiful fight by Lazzez and Loosa showed he definitely belongs! #UFCVegas51
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) April 17, 2022
Wow I'm such a fan of @Mounir_lazzez !! What a fun fighter to watch @ufc #ufcfightnight
— Alex Chambers (@alexchambersmma) April 17, 2022
Good first round from @Mounir_lazzez this guys elbows and knees are dangerous
— The Prince (@AmirAlbazi) April 17, 2022
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