Belal Muhammad will challenge Leon Edwards for the UFC welterweight championship in the main event of UFC 304 on July 28, 2024. The former is riding an impressive nine-fight win streak and has defeated the likes of Gilbert Burns, Stephen Thompson, and Vicente Luque.
Muhammad's primary weapon has been his wrestling. However, he also showcased his striking prowess by knocking out Sean Brady. On the flip side, Edwards is considered one of the best strikers in the UFC and he's nullified Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington's wrestling in his two title defenses.
"Remember the Name" and "Rocky" fought previously in March 2021 but the fight was ruled a no-contest due to an eye poke. Here's how Muhammad plans to win the rematch and why he's confident about doing so...
Belal Muhammad Claims Leon Edwards Doesn't Have The Tools And Cardio To Beat Him
Muhammad appeared on the Weighing In podcast hosted by "Big" John McCarthy and Josh "The Punk" Thomson recently. While discussing his next fight, he outright discarded Edwards' cardio by using the Covington bout as an example. The champion landed 57 significant strikes and had around 90 seconds of control time.
It's still only one round. So people could say, make their excuses, but, there's not even need for me to make excuses because it was only one round there's still four more rounds to go.
The challenger seems unbothered by Edwards succeeding on the feet in the first round of their previous fight. He claims to have the advantage in a five-round battle.
"Remember The Name" then also took a sly dig at "Rocky" for not being aggressive enough against an opponent who disrespected his family.
Muhammad is riding high on confidence ahead of his first chance at winning UFC gold. He isn't worried about anything that Edwards brings to the Octagon and plans to shut the kingpin's gameplan down over five rounds.
Bro, he literally threw 60 strikes against Colby and gassed out in the fifth round. I'm looking at this guy, like bro, you're a dominant striker, this guy disrespected your family, your father, and you still went out there and only threw 60 strikes against a guy with, you know, cardio kickboxing striking. It is hilarious that they call this guy the sniper, the killer, this and that. But when I look at his fights, when I look at his matches, I don't really see nothing that I can't walk through.
Muhammad has been out of action since May 2023, waiting for his title shot. However, he's been training with UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov, convincing many fans that his wrestling has improved drastically.