UFC welterweight Belal Muhammad is itching for another opportunity against Leon Edwards.
The two fought in March in a fight which was declared a no-contest after Muhammad received an accidental eye-poke from Edwards after the British fighter had enjoyed strong start to the fight in round one. Muhammad subsequently called for a rematch with Edwards but was instead handed a test against UFC veteran Demian Maia at UFC 263 — which he won by unanimous decision — while Edwards managed the same result in his bout with Nate Diaz.
Edwards dominated the majority of their fight but came close to being finished late in the fifth when Diaz stunned him with a left hand. ‘Rocky’ hung on for the win, but Edwards says that the situation would have been different had he been in there and not Diaz.
“I would have broke him,” said Muhammad via BJPenn.com. “He was ready to break in that fifth round. And that was Diaz playing 90% of the rest of the fight. Me, I would have stayed in his face the whole time. I would have broke Leon for sure.”
Muhammad’s win improved his career ledger to 19-3 (with that sole no-contest) and jumped to number nine in the UFC’s 170-pound rankings. He likely requires one more win before he starts to threaten the top five, however, but that hasn’t stopped him from calling out Edwards once again, or even Colby Covington depending on the identity of the next challenger to Kamaru Usman’s title.
But with a recent record of 9-1 (1) in his last eleven fights, it appears clear that Belal Muhammad is no walk in the park for anyone in the UFC’s welterweight fold.
