Alan Jouban welcomes UFC Fight Night brawl with Belal Muhammad
LAS VEGAS --- UFC welterweight star Alan Jouban was looking forward to fighting Nordine Taleb on UFC Fight Pass on July 7. After all, the TriStar fighter has won four of his past five fights and is highly ranked.
So, when Taleb got injured and was forced to withdraw from UFC Fight Night 90 and was replaced by newcomer Belal Muhammad, Jouban had a moment of being disappointed.
"I was really excited to fight Taleb so of course I was upset for a little bit when he got injured. In my view, I'm now fighting someone just as tough as him, but without as big a name," he admitted.
It is clear that "Brahma" respects his Wednesday opponent and doesn't underestimate him simply because he's making his UFC debut. It wasn't that long ao, after all, that Jouban himself made his UFC debut and immediately made his mark with his violent and technical stand-up striking.
Now, as a rising veteran, Jouban knows quite well that UFC rookies can be as dangerous as anyone. Jouban doesn't seem to buy Muhammad's promise of pressure, however.
Muhammad told FOXSports that he plans to "put a pressure on [Jouban] that he hasn't felt before." Though he respects Muhammad's abilities, Jouban doesn't believe it is in his opponent's fighting DNA to come out as a real aggressor.
"That's not really the type of fighter he is. If you watch him, he's a rhythm fighter. He goes out there and uses his boxing, tries to pepper an opponent and wear them down. Then, if he does that, he turns it up a bit. If he gets into a rhythm, he piles it on," Jouban reasoned.
"He doesn't just go to the center of the ring and throw down from the start."
If Muhammad does surprise Jouban with unexpected aggressiveness, however, the Blackhouse fighter won't be upset or unprepared. "If he tries to pressure me in the center of the ring," he concluded, "I think I'll do just fine. If I need to dig down deep, I know what I have and what I can do."
