“Talks like he’s Mike Tyson,” Leon Edwards asks UFC champ Belal Muhammad to ‘pump his brakes’
UFC London main event attraction Leon Edwards downplays Belal Muhammad's UFC 304 PPV title win over him from last July.
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UFC London's Leon Edwards dumbs down Belal Muhammad's win over him (Source: X)
Leon Edwards will look to re-enter the welterweight title contention at UFC London this weekend. He will face talented grappler Sean Brady in the main event. Edwards lost his 170-pound title in utter domination to Belal Muhammad in July of 2024. After which, ‘Remember the Name’ has been bashing the competition that once disregarded him in full force.
Muhammad outworked him on feet, went past his minimal offense, clinched, spiked him, and did more than usual during the PPV main event at Co-op Live in Manchester. Now, he’s unwilling to give No. 1 ranked Leon Edwards a straight chance at contention right off the bat. UK’s ‘Rocky’ told the new champion to hold the horses because his win wasn’t all that flashy to him.
The way Belal talks is like he went out there and fu*king knocked me down…And oh, he did wrestle me, Single-edged me, picked me up — But he did no damage really. If anything, he was the one leaking about to get stopped… He talks like he’s Mike Tyson but when he fights, he’s not.
Leon Edwards during UFC London Media Day fighter interviews
Leon Edwards, along with other fighters considered Muhammad incapable of punctuating an upset and joked about him lacing up for boxing speed lessons. After their 2021 Poke NC, Muhammad had to also string up five straight wins (one fight night headliner) to get his crack at gold. Edwards even quipped that UFC brass discredited Muhammad’s run to give him a spot at the historic UFC 300 PPV card.
Hence, after UFC 304, “Bully Belal” is not holding back his tongue when scuffling with rivals. He even touted mentally breaking down the former champ before his domination. Edwards blamed catering to a 6 AM US pay-per-view time slot for the performance and has no intentions of crediting ‘decision machine’ Muhammad for that.
Leon Edwards breaks down Belal Muhammad vs. Jack Della Maddalena, says new champ irks him
Belal Muhammad makes a maiden defense of his 170-pound gold against Aussie contender Jack Della Maddalena. They meet in the May 10th PPV main event at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. Muhammad was set to defend against 170-pound top-seed Shavkat Rakhmonov, but both of them had subsequent injury pullouts.
The fighter from Chicago has gone through a tight row of welterweight standouts like Gilbert Burns, Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque, Demian Maia, and Sean Brady (Round-two TKO). But his decision streak always catches fire with Edwards and others critiquing his fight IQ. Even his UFC 304 performance is not all that extraordinary to the opponent.
Now, Leon Edwards is more than happy to let their UFC 304 PPV rivalry bleed through. He believed JDM was perfectly capable of upsetting Muhammad at the UFC 315 headliner. To that end, he’s okay with it and said the current champ was unfit for the role.
If I had to put money on it, I’d probably favor JDM, …I feel like JDM, his boxing is what will probably shut him [Muhammad] down, and he’s a good anti-grappler, JDM; …He said if he lost [UFC 304] he would’ve retired…I wish this guy f*cking retired because he’s annoying. It doesn’t look right on him, the belt.
Leon Edwards on ‘The Ariel Helwani Show’ for ‘Uncrowned’ Combat (@ArielHelwani)
Muhammad gave bettors a nightmare when he successfully upset Edwards at UFC 304 as a +210 underdog (per BetOnline.AG odds and picks). Any effort by Edwards fell apart and he was only able to graze with his offense just one time, only to be submerged in a clinch right after.
The loss snapped Edwards’ 13-fight unbeaten streak at welterweight competition. Hence, ‘Rocky’ plans a better performance if they meet again. As such, he thinks a win at UFC London will put him back in the title contention spot that soon. He still does top the athlete listings at welterweight.
Related: Leon Edwards ‘exposed’ for having terrible track record despite championship reign
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