Makhachev had been talking about moving up to 170 lbs for a while & likely would have if Leon had beaten Belal, but when Belal became champion he straight up refused to fight Makhachev while Makhachev at first entertaining the idea but later Javier Mendez said they trained together and won't fight.
I don't dislike Belal Muhammad but he seems to have changed his tune since Makhachev became Champion, Belal now says it's a sport and if he got the opportunity he won't say no to a title fight.
Now he has also thrown Islam under the bus saying he wants to fight Kamaru because it's an easier fight and Ali, Usman & Makhachev are pushing it together.
What he's saying is true but it's a little scummy of Belal Muhammad to earlier pretend that he's best friends with Makhachev when he was champion and now that Makhachev is the champion he's open to fight him & indirectly calling him a duck.
If Makhachev had moved up to fight Belal he would have raked up atleast a couple of welterweight defences but he fell for belals brotherhood gimmick.