Belal Muhammad Praises Nutritionist Ahead of Leon Edwards Matchup

Belal Muhammad is grateful to have renowned nutrition coach Ian Larios in camp for his upcoming title fight against Leon Edwards .

Muhammad gets his long overdue title shot against Edwards in the main event at UFC 304 on July 27 at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England. Representing the closely-knit Chicago Fight Team, Muhammad couldn’t have asked for a more motivating group of individuals with which to train.

Muhammad’s team pushes him for that last extra bit of effort, which he believes will bear fruit when he potentially goes into deep water against Edwards. As a fresh addition to the team, Larios is no different.

“The thing about my team is we’re a small group, we’re all like family,” Muhammad recently told Helen Yee. “When one of us have a fight, we all have a fight. And one of us needs to be pushed, we all push each other… There’s a lot of people that’ll quit after you hit your stairs, your legs are tired, you’re drained, that was enough. But me, I know I gotta push more. Because when it goes to those championship rounds, that’s when it’s gonna count. That little extra you did at the top. That little extra push where you didn’t want to do the sprint from the parking lot and my boy Ian’s like, let’s go from the parking lot, let go further and it just pushes you.”

Muhammad also gave the credit for his ripped physique to Larios, who has been making meals for the who’s who of MMA for a while now. However, “Remember the Name” thanks Larios for much more than his diet. According to Muhammad, Larios takes care of his overall schedule and even spars him at times to provide that extra push. While Muhammad doesn’t have draining weight cuts in general, he is just glad to not have to worry about anything with Larios by his side.

“The secret to that [physique] is Ian Larios,” Muhammad said. “Shout out to Ian. He’s been with me for last four weeks, cooking all my meals, best in the game. It doesn’t even feel like I’m dieting. The stuff that he makes is so good, amazing. I’m just blessed to have him with me.

“Like I said, he’s a guy that will run with me, push me, even spar with me, just to give me those rounds, give me that extra push. How many chefs are out here doing that?... Ian gave me like a protein cupcake for my birthday. And I was like, ‘Bro could we get a ice cream cake or something? We’re still three weeks away.’ But he doesn’t like dessert himself. Ian’s worked with everybody, he’s worked with [Daniel] Cormier, Cain Velasquez , Jamahal Hill recently, he always works with Serio Pettis. Once you work with him, you don’t want to go back with anybody else. And I’m not even really a hard weight cutter, but he just takes the stress away from thinking about, ‘Oh, what should I eat? What should I do? Am I eating enough, am I doing enough?’”