ATLANTA – Kamaru Usman appears to have moved on from the idea of fighting Belal Muhammad.

Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) was involved in an altercation with former UFC welterweight champion Muhammad when he hosted him in person for a podcast episode. The pair had to be separated, and the idea of a potential fight between them started building steam.

However, now that Muhammad (24-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) has lost his welterweight title, Usman shot him down as an opponent.

“Now here’s the thing: When Belal Muhammad was champion, there was a reason to fight Belal Muhammad,” Usman told MMA Junkie and other reporters during Wednesday’s UFC on ESPN 69 media day. “He had the title. Let’s be honest here: We’re not the best of friends, but I don’t wish him any bad.

“He’s my Muslim brother, so I don’t wish him any bad. But what do you have to offer me? You going to give me a side deal? You going to throw me a little extra cash on the side? If he’s willing to do that, maybe. But who knows? I hope he’s recovering well. That was a tough loss, so hopefully he bounces back.”

Despite things getting physical between him and Muhammad, Usman insists there’s no ill-will toward the former champion.

“There was never bad blood,” Usman said. “That was never really the case. If you really look at the history, you look at myself and Colby Covington, that rivalry, which it’s over with, Colby is Colby, but there was a story. There was things that are lined up there with that one. With Belal, no, it’s just a guy that was in the division that did well, eventually became champion, and then once he became champion, you really start to hear his voice a little bit more.

“At times, he was a little bit annoying, and that was pretty much it. There’s no necessarily bad blood between me and Belal. It is what it is. I wish him well. If I’m champion, I’m sure he’s going to want to fight me. If he’s champion, I’m going to want to compete against him for sure.”

Usman returns from an almost two-year long layoff when he takes on Joaquin Buckley (21-6 MMA, 11-4 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 69 (ESPN, ESPN+) main event at State Farm Arena.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC’s Kamaru Usman sees no reason to fight Belal Muhammad anymore