Leon Edwards is getting a good chuckle out of Belal Muhammad.
The two welterweight standouts collide in a rematch Saturday for Edwards’ welterweight title in the main event of UFC 304. Ahead of the bout, Muhammad and his team have not been shy in making grand proclamations about their fighter, including Muhammad’s coach comparing the Chicago native’s boxing to Canelo Alvarez’s and Muhammad himself repeatedly going into elaborate detail about how he plans to “torture” Edwards over five rounds and painting a dream scenario of a decisive decision victory to win the belt.
For Edwards, it’s all been a bit strange.
“All this, if it was me, yeah, I’m not going to go mad deluded and shit and just throw out random shit, but [I’d at least be saying], ‘I’m going to knock this guy out and cut him open.’ You want violence in it,” Edwards said with a smirk at UFC 304 media day. “If I could dream this scenario in my brain, I would dream of violence. I wouldn’t dream of f*cking going to decision. You know what I mean? It’s just weird thoughts that’s going on.
“He is [the least intimidating person]. Like, there’s just zero. Let’s say we’re in the street and I saw Belal Muhammad — I wouldn’t be afraid of him one bit, and that’s how I look at it. He’s not intimidating one bit. That’s it.”
Edwards, 32, is currently MMA Fighting’s No. 3 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He is unbeaten across 13 bouts since 2015 and captured his title with a legendary come-from-behind knockout of Kamaru Usman in 2022. Edwards then defended his welterweight belt twice in 2023, defeating Usman again before outclassing Colby Covington in a one-sided bout.
Muhammad, 36, is also unbeaten in 10 consecutive UFC bouts dating back to 2019. In recent years, he has dominated opposition with his wrestling and aggressive work rate, beating the likes of Gilbert Burns, Sean Brady, and Vicente Luque. Ahead of UFC 304, Muhammad vowed that he also plans to out-strike Edwards in addition to out-wrestling the Englishman, though Edwards isn’t giving that promise much credence.
“He might try to [strike]. He won’t have much success in it. I think everyone knows his game plan would be to come out and try wrestling, but even his wrestling ain’t all that, really. He ain’t a f*cking Khabib [Nurmagomedov] or like a ‘GSP’ [Georges St-Pierre]. He’s Belal,” Edwards said with a laugh. “You know what I mean? So it’s like, I don’t know, let’s see.”
The champ also couldn’t help but scoff at Muhammad’s promises of extreme violence.
“It’s a contradiction, right?” Edwards said. “When has he ever tortured anybody in the cage? When has he ever knocked anybody out? He’s going to choke me halfway, look at my brother, let me back up, look at my coach? I was like, ‘Bro, you’re deluded.’ He even came out and said that if he beats me — which he won’t — he’s topping ‘GSP.’ His boxing coach came out and said he has the same hands as Canelo. It’s like, what the hell is going on?
“I feel like he’s trying to talk himself into the fight. He’s trying to convince himself that he’s better than what he is, I feel. It’s the only way I can see it. I can’t see what else there is.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time for Edwards and Muhammad. The two met previously in a 2021 bout that ended prematurely when Muhammad sustained an accidental eye poke just 18 seconds into the second round. Edwards has rattled off four straight wins since and emerged as one of the sport’s most talented fighters, while Muhammad has bulldozed his way through five wins and cemented his place as a top welterweight contender.
Edwards expects his road since that 2021 no contest to benefit him more on Saturday night than the journey Muhammad has taken to earn his long-awaited title shot.
“I don’t think it’ll be different, it’ll be similar,” Edwards said, “because Colby is boxing and wrestling, Kamaru is boxing and wrestling. They kick but not really, they’re more boxing and wrestling. Belal, same, boxing and wrestling, he kicks but not really. Their attacks as far as wrestling goes [are] similar. So I just feel like my path to this rematch has better prepared me for the rematch more than his path to the rematch.
“He fought Burns, [who] was injured. Who else? Luque. Who else? ‘Wonderboy’ [Thompson], that’s 60 years old. Demian Maia, 60 years old. So all the people that he’s fought [weren’t like me].”
UFC 304 takes place July 27 at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
