Belal Muhammad releases first statement after third straight loss at UFC Vegas 118 - MMA Fighting

Former UFC champ Belal Muhammad used his first thoughts following another loss in the octagon to keep things lighthearted, and also put over one of his friends and teammates. Muhammad lost a lopsided decision to Gabriel Bonfim in the main event of UFC Vegas 118 on Saturday night at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas. After capturing the lightweight title with a victory over Leon Edwards at UFC 304 in July 2024, Muhammad has lost all three of his matchups inside he octagon. Following the loss to Bonfim, Muhammad released his first statement on Instagram — which he used to shine a light a light on Brendan Allen for his win over Edmen Shahbazyan in the co-main event. “Alhamdillah for everything, blessed to be stressed,” Muhammad wrote. “You don’t find out who you are when everything goes your way. You find out when it doesn’t. Grateful for the journey, grateful for the lessons. I’ll be back. “Thank you to all my supporters my team and family, congrats my brother on his big win his hard work paying off on his way to the title.” Muhammad lost the title to Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315 in May 2025, then went on to drop a decision to Ian Machado Garry at UFC Qatar this past November.