Belal Muhammad to Take On Gilbert Burns in 5-Round Co-Headliner at UFC 288

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENTS JUST DROPPED! 🚨@DanaWhite just confirmed SIX big fights going down this summer and more 👀 pic.twitter.com/2trJujb3kB

— UFC (@ufc) April 21, 2023

The next Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view has just gained a huge addition.

On just two weeks’ notice, Belal Muhammad (22-3, 1 NC) will be setting foot in the Octagon against Gilbert Burns (22-5). Per a UFC announcement on Thursday, the two will be replacing the rescheduled booking of Charles Oliveira-Beneil Dariush for the co-headlining spot on UFC 288. This event on May 6 held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, will see this top welterweight contender tilt play out over the course of five rounds. Although Burns recently claimed he would take no offering but a shot at the belt, he posted about wanting this fight back on Monday.

Burns is fresh off a three-round decision win over Jorge Masvidal on UFC 287 this April. Since a tooth-and-nail scrap with Khamzat Chimaev a year ago, Burns has rattled off a pair of wins to push himself back towards the top of contention. Of note, Burns performed his first submission at welterweight when he tapped Neil Magny in January. After nine stints in his new weight category of 170 pounds, the only two fighters to beat him were sitting champ Kamaru Usman and the aforementioned Chimaev.

While Burns has gone 7-2 at welterweight, Muhammad has strung together eight wins and a no contest since his last defeat. In his last fight in October 2022, Muhammad punched out then-unbeaten Sean Brady to earn his first knockout in over six years. While his no contest with Leon Edwards thanks to an eye poke left them with unfinished business, Muhammad has gone on to beat Demian Maia, Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque and Brady in the span of about 17 months to claim a place in the top five in his weight class.

UFC 288 will be held in Newark, New Jersey, at the Prudential Center on May 6. This pay-per-view card will feature a championship collision between kingpin Aljamain Sterling and former titleholder Henry Cejudo for bantamweight gold. In addition to the newly-booked Muhammad-Burns fight, other fights on the main billing include Jessica Andrade vs. Xiaonan Yan at 115 pounds, a featherweight contest between Movsar Evloev and Bryce Mitchell and another 145-pound match as Kron Gracie returns against Charles Jourdain. The lightweight pairing of Drew Dober vs. Matt Frevola has since been shifted back down to the prelims, following its brief elevation when Oliveira-Dariush fell off the lineup.