UFN Hidalgo Prelim Breakout Star: Belal Muhammad

The Prelim Breakout Star is a once per event article that helps fans get to know those who will be entertaining them from the undercard. The intention of the article is not to bring attention to the most talented guy on the preliminary card, but rather one that the common fan may have overlooked or underestimated.

It would appear that any time Ian McCall is featured on this site, he runs into problems with his fight. Twice he has appeared on our Top Turtle Podcast (and once on this segment) and twice his fight has been cancelled. Let’s hope this doesn’t become a growing trend for MMA-Manifesto. Looking to help us buck said trend is an impressive up and coming fighter.

Belal Muhammad

Nickname – Remember the Name
Affiliation – RoufusSport
From – Chicago, Illinois
Height – 5’10“
Weight – 170 lbs (Welterweight)
Record – 9-1 (0-1 UFC)

What makes him impressive

What you have to love about Muhammad is his technical kickboxing and his willingness to test it against anybody. The way that he throws leg kicks and puts together combinations makes him very hard to defend against. While he doesn’t necessarily have a large amount of knockout power (has only KOed his opponent in 3 of his 9 victories), it seems that every fight he’s in is an instant contender for fight of the night, which is exactly what happened in his UFC debut.

Why he has been overlooked 

As mentioned, his debut was a fight of the night with no clear contenders. Muhammad stepped into the cage with noted striker Alan Jouban. With no fear, he stood in front of Jouban for 3 very exciting rounds. As the scorecards were read, he wound up on the wrong side of an unanimous decision. Still, he showed amazing potential and did so in a fight that he took on only a week’s notice. While he may have won the die-hard MMA fans over with his gutsy performance, most less passionate MMA fans need to be won over with a victory.

What makes this a good match-up

Augusto Montano is a guy who likes to throw hands. He stands in front and trades more often than not. This makes him a tailor-made opponent for a talented kickboxer like Muhammad. And if that isn’t enough to already feel good about Muhammad’s chances, add in the fact that Montano is stepping into the cage for the first time in a year after serving a suspension for testosterone metabolites. If we were to guess, Montano’s punching power may be decreased slightly, which tilts the balance even further in Muhammad’s favor.

Record: 93 Wins, 49 Losses, 1 Draw, 1 NC,  3 Did Not Fight (DNF)

1. Francisco Trinaldo – UFC on FX: Belfort vs Bisping (W)
2. Simeon Thoresen – UFC on Fox: Johnson vs Dodson (L)
3. Tyron Woodley – UFC 156 (W)
4. Vaughan Lee – UFC on Fuel: Barao vs McDonald (W)
5. Dennis Bermudez – UFC 157 (W)
6. Cristiano Marcello – UFC on Fuel: Stann vs Silva (L)
7. Daron Cruickshank – UFC 158 (L)
8. Ryan LaFlare – UFC on Fuel: Mousasi vs Latifi (W)
9. Bart Palaszewski – TUF Finale (L)
10. Yoel Romero – UFC on Fox: Henderson vs Melendez (W)
11. Rustam Khabilov – UFC 159 (W)
12. Fabio Maldonado – UFC on FX: Belfort vs Rockhold (W)
13. Khabib Nurmagomedov – UFC 160 (W)
14. Antonio Braga Neto – UFC on Fuel: Nogueira vs Werdum (W)
15. Roland Delorme – UFC 161 (W)
16. Seth Baczynski – UFC 162 (L)
17. Jorge Masvidal – UFC on Fox: Johnson vs Moraga (W)
18. Ednaldo Oliveira – UFC 163 (L)
19. Mike Brown – UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs Sonnen (L)
20. Dylan Andrews – UFC Fight Night: Condit vs Kampmann (W)
21. Soa Palelei – UFC 164 (W)
22. Elias Silverio – UFC Fight Night: Teixeira vs Bader (W)
23. John Makdessi – UFC 165 (W)
24. Alan Patrick – UFC Fight Night: Maia vs Shields (W)
25. Andre Fili – UFC 166 (W)
26. Jimy Hettes – UFC Fight Night: Machida vs Munoz (W)
27. Germaine de Randamie – UFC Fight for the Troops 3 (L)
28. Omari Akhmedov – UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs Henderson (W)
29. Sergio Pettis – UFC 167 (W)
30. Roxanne Modafferi – TUF Finale (L)
31. Takeya Mizugaki – UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs Bigfoot (W)
32. Alptekin Ozkilic – UFC on Fox: Johnson vs Benavidez (W)
33. Siyar Bahadurzada – UFC 168 (L)
34. Mairbek Taisumov – UFC Fight Night: Saffiedine vs Lim (W)
35. Charlie Brenneman – UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs Philippou (L)
36. Walt Harris – UFC on Fox: Henderson vs Thomson (L)
37. Clint Hester – UFC 169 (W)
38. Joe Proctor – UFC Fight Night: Machida vs Mousasi (W)
39. Aljamain Sterling – UFC 170 (W)
40. Zak Cummings – TUF China Finale (DNF)
41. Cyrille Diabate – UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs Manuwa (L)
42. Mats Nilsson – UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs Manuwa (L)
43. Alex Garcia – UFC 171 (W)
44. Hans Stringer – UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs Henderson (W)
45. Jim Alers – UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs Nelson (W)
46. Ryan Jimmo – TUF Finale (W)
47. Caio Magalhaes – UFC on Fox: Werdum vs Browne (W)
48. Joe Ellenberger – UFC 172 (DNF)
49. Kyoji Horiguchi – UFC Fight Night: Brown vs Silva (W)
50. Francisco Trinaldo – UFC 173 (L)
51. Iuri Alcantara – UFC FIght Night: Mousasi vs Munoz (W)
52. Paulo Thiago – TUF Brazil Finale (L)
53. Jon Tuck – UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs Khabilov (W)
54. Mike Easton – UFC 174 (L)
55. Ian Entwistle – UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs Te Huna (L)
56. Ray Borg – UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs Stevens (W)
57. Rob Font – UFC 175 (W)
58. Derrick Lewis – TUF Finale (W)
59. Jessamyn Duke – UFC Fight Night: Cerrone vs Miller (L)
60. Nikita Krylov – UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs Brandao (W)
61. Patrick Cummins – UFC on Fox: Lawler vs Brown (W)
62. Sam Alvey – UFC Fight Night: Bader vs Saint Preux (L)
63. Yuta Sasaki – UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs Le (W)
64. Ben Saunders – UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs dos Anjos (W)
65. Damon Jackson – UFC 177 (L)
66. Chas Skelly – UFC Fight Night: Jacare vs Mousasi (W)
67. Godofredo ‘Pepey’ Castro – UFC Fight Night: Bigfoot vs Arlovski (W)
68. Alex Caceres – UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs Nelson (L)
69. Cody Gibson – UFC 178 (L)
70. Marcin Bandel – UFC Fight Night: Nelson vs Story (L)
71. Jason Saggo -UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs Saffiedine (L)
72. Yan Cabral – UFC 179 (W)
73. Jake Mathews – UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs Bisping (W)
74. Thomas Almeida – UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs Saint Preux (W)
75. Gabriel Benitez – UFC 180 (W)
76. Paige VanZant – UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs Swanson (W)
77. Clay Collard – UFC 181 (W)
78. Aisling Daly – TUF Finale (W)
79. Jamie Varner – UFC on Fox 13 (L)
80. Jake Collier – UFC Fight Night: Machida vs Dollaway (L)
81. Alexis Dufresne – UFC 182 (L)
82. Charles Rosa – UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs Siver (W)
83. Konstantin Erokhin – UFC on Fox: Gustafsson vs Johnson (L)
84. Sara McMann – UFC 183 (L)
85. James Moontasri – UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs Thatch (W)
86. William ‘Patolino’ Macario – UFC Fight Night: Bigfoot vs Mir (L)
87. Norifumi ‘Kid’ Yamamoto – UFC 184 – (NC)
88. Joseph Duffy – UFC 185 (W)
89. Christos Giagos – UFC Fight Night: Maia vs LaFlare (W)
90. Ron Stallings – UFC Fight Night: Lamas vs Mendes (W)
91. Stevie Ray – UFC Fight Night: Gonzaga vs Cro Cop 2 (W)
92. Beneil Dariush – UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs Machida (W)
93. Olivier Aubin-Mercier – UFC 186 (W)
94. Lisa Ellis – UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs Miocic (L)
95. Dhiego Lima – UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs Faber (L)
96. Islam Makhachev – UFC 187 (W)
97. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos – UFC Fight Night: Condit vs Alves (L)
98. Ricardo Abreu – UFC Fight Night: Boetsch vs Hendeson (L)
99. Henry Cejudo – UFC 188 (W)
100. Makwan Amirkhani – UFC Fight Night: Jedrzejczyk (W)
101. Steve Mongtomery – UFC Fight Night: Machida vs Romero (L)
102. Cody Garbrandt – UFC 189 (W)
103. George Sullivan – UFC Fight Night: Ellenberger vs Thompson (W)
104. Kevin Casey – UFC Fight Night: Mir vs Duffee (W)
105. Jimmie Rivera – UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs Leites (W)
106. Andrew Holbrook – UFC on Fox 16 (W)
107. Warlley Alves – UFC 190 (W)
108. Frankie Saenz – UFC Fight Night: St. Preux vs Teixeira (W)
109. Misha Cirkunov – UFC Fight Night: Oliveira vs Holloway (W)
110. Nazareno Malegarie – UFC 191 (L)
111. Shinsho Anzai – UFC Fight Night: Barnett vs Nelson (W)
112. Sage Northcutt – UFC 192 (W)
113. Tom Breese – UFC Fight Night: Holohan vs Smolka (W)
114. Johnny Case – UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs Henderson (W)
115. Kyle Noke – UFC 193 (W)
116. Taylor Lapilus – UFC Fight Night: Gastelum vs Magny (L)
117. Yui Chul Nam – UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs Masvidal (L)
118. Santiago Ponzinibbio – UFC Fight Night: VanZant vs Namajunas (W)
119. Ryan Hall – TUF Finale (W)
120. Tecia Torres – UFC 194 (W)
121. Tamdan McCrory – UFC on Fox 17 (W)
122. Scott Holtzman – UFC 195 (L)
123. Ilir Latifi – UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs Cruz (W)
124. Dustin Ortiz – UFC on Fox 18 (L)
125. Noad Lahat – UFC Fight Night: Hendricks vs Thompson (L)
126. Ashlee Evans-Smith – UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs Cowboy (W)
127. Arnold Allen – UFC Fight Night: Silva vs Bisping (W)
128. Vitor Miranda – UFC 196 (W)
129. Daniel Hooker – UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs Mir (W)
130. Bojan Velickovic – UFC Fight Night: Dos Santos vs Rothwell (W)
131. Oluwale Bangbose – UFC on Fox 19 (L)
132. Kevin Lee – UFC 197 (W)
133. Garreth McLellan – UFC Fight Night: Arlovski vs Overeem (L)
134. Sergio Moraes – UFC 198 (D)
135. Adam Milstead – UFC Fight Night: Almeida vs Garbrandt (W)
136. Jessica Penne – UFC 199 (L)
137. Colby Covington – UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs MacDonald (W)
138. Gilbert Burns – UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs Alvarez (W)
139. Cory Hendricks – TUF Fianle (L)
140. Joe Lauzon – UFC 200 (W)
141. Lauren Murphy – UFC Fight Night: McDonald vs Lineker (L)
142. Dmitry Smoliakov – UFC on Fox 20 (L)
143. Michael Graves – UFC 201 (W)
144. Teruto Ishihara – UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs Caceres (W)
145. Marvin Vettori – UFC 202 (W)
146. Kyle Bochniak – UFC on Fox 21 (W)
147. Jim Wallhead – UFC Fight Night: Arlovski vs Barnett (L)
148. Ian McCall – UFC 202 (DNF)