by UFC’s Welter weight champion Belal Muhammad asked the promotion to restore the Palestinian flag to his fighter profile, referring to Dana White’s position on “freedom of expression”.
Muhammad was born in the United States but to Palestinian parents, and he was seen carrying the Palestinian flag several times throughout his UFC career.
In 2022, the UFC imposed a flag ban, but White – the president of the promotion – canceled this decision a year later. It is believed that the ban was linked to the Russian-Ukraine conflict.
In any case, fans noticed this week that Muhammad, who won the Welter weight title in July, has no flag on his combatant profile on UFC.com, leading the champion to call White.
“So, people continue to ask me:” Where’s your flag? “” Muhammad, 36, said in a video on social networks. “I started to receive several messages [about] That, and I just supposed that it was a mistake, but it is still not tackled.
“So, I will shelter there and I hope that Dana will also address it, repair it – because Dana said it was all about freedom of expression, it is all about people who support who they want to support, and not to root or silence anyone.
“So, I hope that the UFC solves this problem and puts my flag next to my name, so the people I represent, the people I fight and the people I train will see their flag next to the name of their champion.”
Many UFC fans have hypothesized that the absence of the flag relates to the complicated history of Palestine with Israel. Nations have been locked in new conflicts since the end of 2023, and US President Donald Trump published a “last warning” in Hamas this week – a Palestinian militant group – to release Israeli hostages that were detained in Gaza.
The independent contacted the UFC to comment.
Muhammad should then fight in May, defending his title against Jack Della Maddalena in Australia in the main UFC 315 event in Canada.
