Belal Muhammad knows deep down inside that he should’ve been fighting for the welterweight title at UFC 296, but instead it was Colby Covington who got his third chance at becoming undisputed champion by facing Leon Edwards on Saturday night.
What resulted was a largely lackluster offering from Covington, as he failed to mount much offense whatsoever until finally securing a takedown late in the fifth round and holding Edwards on the ground until the final horn. As for Edwards, he dominated the majority of the fight while also managing to actually take Covington down to the canvas, ultimately securing the unanimous decision victory.
Regardless of who won or lost, Muhammad says the real victim was the welterweight division after such a poor showing from the champion and the supposed No. 1 contender.
“Honestly, it was a joke to the division,” Muhammad said on the UFC 296 post-fight show. “That’s what happens when you get a bum off the couch [Covington] who’s been out for two years, who didn’t deserve the shot, and he goes out there and he didn’t back up the talk. For Leon Edwards, you should have backed up your talk too. For what Colby said, he deserved to have his jaw broken. I thought Leon should have went out there, he should have embarrassed him and put it on him, but he played that little game.
“So I think the UFC knows who’s next. I need to get in there. I need to make the welterweight division great again because I’m going to come to fight every single fight. I’m going to be in your face non-stop, 100 percent. There’s not going to be no breathing at all for Leon Edwards.”
Currently riding a 10-fight unbeaten streak, Muhammad seemed to be the natural fit for a title shot, especially after he vanquished his fourth consecutive ranked opponent when he beat Gilbert Burns back in May.
Unfortunately for him, UFC CEO Dana White had already declared Covington as next in line prior to Muhammad’s win, so Covington got the title shot against Edwards in the final pay-per-view of 2023.
Ultimately, Covington failed to do much of anything against Edwards during the five-round fight, but Muhammad promises that won’t be the case when he’s finally granted the same opportunity.
“I’m going to be in his face,” Muhammad predicted. “I’m going to make him bleed. I’m going to make him breathe hard.
“I’m going to make him look to his corner and his coach is going to repeat that same statement, ‘Don’t let him bully you, son!’ He’s going to say that every single round, and once the fight’s over, he’s [going to say], ‘You let him bully you, son.’ That’s what I’m going to do to him. I’m going to bully him.”
Muhammad’s patience is obviously wearing thin after watching what he considered a bad fight from both the champion and challenger, so he hopes that his wait won’t be long before he gets the chance to prove himself against Edwards in the cage.
He didn’t set a timeline for his return, but considering Edwards didn’t endure any real damage in the fight — at least nothing revealed yet — Muhammad wants to book that matchup sooner rather than later.
“I’m ready,” Muhammad said. “He didn’t take no damage at all. Colby had like 500 strikes, probably one of them was significant. They’re all mosquito bites, so Leon Edwards probably just has to go take a quick shower, brush all that dirt off and he’ll be good to go. I hope he doesn’t go on his long tour again. He’s very inactive. Stay in the gym, stay ready to go. Whenever you’re ready, I’m ready to go.
“You can call me on a week’s notice, I’m ready to go. It doesn’t matter when the UFC calls. I just want this title fight. In the words of the famous [Georges St-Pierre], Dana, please give me my shot!”
