Belal Muhammad made his ACB JJ league debut at the ACBJJ22 tournament, submitting Oktagon MMA fighter Kerim Engizek in a grappling match. The submission victory marked Muhammad's first competitive appearance in the league.
Belal Muhammad stepped outside the Octagon and onto the mats at ACBJJ22 on August 30, 2026, submitting Oktagon MMA fighter Kerim Engizek to claim victory in his debut appearance in the ACB Jiu-Jitsu league.
Muhammad, known by the nickname "Remember the Name," enters the grappling circuit as one of the more decorated welterweights in MMA. The 38-year-old American, who trains out of Roufusport, holds a 24-5-0 professional record and sits ranked seventh in the UFC welterweight division, with a pound-for-pound ranking of eighth. Standing five-foot-eleven with a 72-inch reach, Muhammad has built his MMA reputation primarily on wrestling and volume striking — averaging 4.43 significant strikes per minute and 2.14 takedowns per 15 minutes — though submission attempts have not been a major feature of his game inside the cage, at just 0.1 per 15 minutes. Saturday's finish showed a different dimension of his ground game in a pure submission-only context.
Engizek, competing under the Oktagon MMA banner, provided the opposition for Muhammad's league introduction.
Why it matters
- Muhammad's submission finish signals he is investing seriously in his grappling outside of MMA competition, potentially sharpening a skillset that rarely surfaces in his cage appearances.
- The result raises his profile in the growing ACB JJ circuit, where MMA stars have increasingly sought to test pure jiu-jitsu credentials.
- A strong grappling resume could add another layer to his game as he pursues a return to welterweight title contention, where he ranks seventh globally.
