UFC Fight Night 121 results: Belal Muhammad takes split from Tim Means, calls out Colby Covington

In a razor-close fight, Belal Muhammad took a split decision from Tim Means for arguably the biggest win of his career. Then he called out MMA’s newest villain, Colby Covington.

Muhammad (13-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) took a pair of 29-28 scores, while Means (27-9-1 MMA, 9-6 UFC) got a dissenting 29-28 of his own. In his post-fight interview, Muhammad said he wants a fight with Covington based on Covington’s recent disparagement of Brazil and Brazilians. (Muhammad was born in Chicago and is of Palestinian descent.)

The welterweight bout was part of the main card of today’s UFC Fight Night 121 event at at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. It aired on FS1 following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Muhammad went to the center and kicked right away. But Means fired back with punches and landed a stiff left. He pushed Muhammad to the outside. Muhammad landed an inside leg kick, then a right hand. A minute in, Muhammad came forward and landed again. A means straight left was on the mark, but Muhammad got inside for a right hook about two minutes in. Muhammad went to the body with a right, then cracked Means with a left hand.

With two minutes left, Muhammad drilled Means with a right hand. Means kept pushing forward, though, trying to use his size and reach advantage to the utmost. But again, Muhammad smacked him with a right. With 30 seconds left, Muhammad drove in for a takedown, but bailed on it. He just missed a spinning back fist before time ran out.

Muhammad landed a left, then overhand right early in the second. Forty-five seconds into the round, Muhammad went after a taekdown and got it. He had to fend off a Means choke attempt, but did so easily and had top position for a moment on the canvas before moving back to his feet and letting Means up. Means fired his right jab out repeatedly and tried some teeps for good measure. But Muhammad’s left jab was working, too.

Muhammad landed a front kick, but had his head popped back by a Means left. Muhammad slipped with two minutes left, but Means couldn’t take advantage and Muhammad was right back up. Means kicked high with a minute left, but Muhammad blocked it. Not long after, Muhammad tried a takedown, but couldn’t get it. Muhammad had a sizable mouse under his left eye, but the fight was extremely close in the striking department.

A low leg kick from Means spun Muhammad around on his feet. Means tried to kick up high, but it wasn’t there. Muhammad tried a head kick of his own 90 seconds in. Means tried a takedown, but Muhammad stuffed it, showing that each fighter was desperate for something that might put them over the edge with the judges in a razor-close fight. A Muhammad head kick was just barely off the mark, and he tried a takedown on top of it. But Means stayed upright and they reset with 1:45 left.

Muhammad popped off a 1-2, then shied away from a spinning kick from Means. With a minute left, Muhammad moved away from a Means right, then landed his own combination. Muhammad cracked Means with a right late in the fight, then stayed away from a Means kick and left the judges with a tough call to make.

Muhammad ran his streak to three and has won four of his past five fights. Means heads back to the loss column after a June win over Alex Garcia. He has dropped two of his past three.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 121 results include:

• Belal Muhammad def. Tim Means via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Jake Matthews def. Bojan Velickovic via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Elias Theodorou def. Daniel Kelly via unanimous decision (30-28, 30-27, 30-26)
• Alex Volkanovski def. Shane Young via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
• Ryan Benoit def. Ashkan Mokhtarian via knockout (head kick) – Round 3, 2:38
• Nik Lentz def. Will Brooks via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 2:05
• Tai Tuivasa def. Rashad Coulter via knockout (knee) – Round 1, 4:35
• Frank Camacho def. Damien Brown via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
• Nadia Kassem def. Alex Chambers via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
• Eric Shelton def. Jenel Lausa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-25)
• Adam Wieczorek def. Anthony Hamilton via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 121, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Sydney.)