Belal Muhammad feeling right at home in UAE as UFC 280 showdown with Sean Brady approaches

As his Dubai training camp draws to a close ahead of his much-anticipated bout at UFC 280 down the road in Abu Dhabi, Belal Muhammad appears in the perfect spot both physically and mentally.

Spiritually, too.

“I’m basically a local now,” says the American, a practising Muslim, having spent five weeks in the UAE embedded with Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev and team as he prepares to take on Sean Brady at Etihad Arena on Saturday night. “It’s been amazing, so cool to be down here.

“Fight-wise, I’m training with the best team in the world. But also, for my mental, for my soul, it’s helped me a lot too. Because living in the culture, hearing the call to prayer after practices, praying with your brothers, where the whole team is praying at the same time.

“You see somebody randomly walking, they’re telling you ‘As-salamu alaykum’ – just those little things are different than in America, where a lot of people are doing their own thing, heads in their phone, not paying attention to anything.

“And when it’s your time to pray, you’d have to go find a corner to pray by yourself and you have people looking at you like you’re weird: ‘What is the guy doing in public?’

“So it’s cool here, that at the same time everybody’s doing the exact same thing.”

It’s clear that connection to his roots matters to Muhammad. A son of Palestinian parents, the Chicago-born athlete has always been a vocal and vociferous supporter of their homeland.

His grandmother only recently left to join the family in the US after her personal circumstances changed; his brothers lived there years ago also.

Muhammad’s love for Palestine is evident whenever he competes. Typically, he sports the country’s flag before and after fighting in the UFC, a pursuit that