UFC welterweight contender Belal Muhammad thinks his path to the belt was a lot tougher than champion Leon Edwards'.
The pair are set to headline this weekend's UFC 304 pay-per-view event inside the Co-op Live arena in Manchester, England, where Muhammad will look to upset the home fans by ripping the 170-pound title from "Rocky's" grasp.
Since their first fight ended in a No Contest over three years ago, Edwards has worked his way to the gold and subsequently defended it successfully twice to date. "Remember the Name," meanwhile, has extended his unbeaten run to 10 with five straight wins over Demian Maia, Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque, Sean Brady, and Gilbert Burns.
That run has left many branding Muhammad the clear number one contender, and some even calling him the most deserving challenger in UFC history. Edwards, however, seemingly hasn't been too impressed and recently downplayed some of his opponent's results.
Unsurprisingly, Muhammad has returned the favor...
Muhammad Insists He Boasts Tougher Strength Of Schedule Than Edwards
During a recent interview with Kevin Iole, Muhammad looked ahead to his long-awaited first opportunity at achieving champion status on mixed martial arts' biggest stage.
The #2-ranked welterweight had his attention turned to Edwards' remarks about his winning run and fired back in kind, suggesting that "Rocky" fought nothing but 155lbers to secure his 2022 title shot.
When I look at his résumé for him to get the title fight, he fought nothing but lightweights," Muhammad said. "Donald Cerrone, RDA, Nate Diaz. Like, okay? Look at the guys that I beat, when I beat them. Gilbert Burns was on a two-fight winning streak. Luque was on a five or six-fight winning streak when I beat him. Sean Brady was on a 15-fight winning streak when I beat him. 'Wonderboy' was like 3-1 out of his last four fights when I beat him. Demian Maia was like 3-1...
He can say whatever he wants, but I know what I had to do to fight those guys," Muhammad continued. "And when I trained for those guys, every single one of those camps I picked up something different, right, because I had to train for a grappler, then I had to train for a striker, then I had to train for a guy who knocked me out before. Every single one of those guys, every single one of those camps, I evolved as a fighter. ... I fought the best version of them and I got the best version of myself out of it.
Muhammad will look to demonstrate that evolution since the unfortunate ending to his and Edwards' first clash when they run it back in Manchester this weekend.
And when it comes to achieving that feat, "Remember the Name" isn't short on confidence. The challenger has vowed to unseat "Rocky" inside the distance, with him and his manager claiming he won't even require the championship rounds at UFC 304.
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