UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards thinks Belal Muhammad is in over his head.
Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) defends his title in a rematch vs. Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) in the UFC 304 headliner July 27 at Co-op Live in Manchester, England. Both Edwards and Muhammad are on double-digit unbeaten runs. The lone asterisk in their streak is a no contest against each other in March 2021 – a fight that was ruled a no contest after Edwards inadvertently poked Muhammad in the eye and rendered him unable to continue.
Muhammad has made some bold claims ahead of their rematch, but Edwards isn’t sure where he’s getting his confidence from.
“Deluded, he’s talking a lot of sh*t, so make sure you can back it up,” Edwards told Red Corner MMA. “Like I said, he’s been off over a year. The way he talks is like he was winning the first fight, so a bit deluded. But like I said, he best be ready. It’s going to be a long, hard, tough fight for him in Manchester.”
In their first fight, Edwards was able to stumble Muhammad early, winning Round 1 on all three of the judges’ scorecards. The eye poke happened just 18 seconds into Round 2, and Muhammad is adamant that their first fight can’t be indicative of how things would have played out.
But Edwards thinks otherwise.
“Like I said, the fight, Round 1 went my way comfortably,” Edwards said. “I was just getting started, and then the eye poke happened. Obviously hurt him in the first round. I feel like he’ll just be too slow for me. Too slow, too predictable, too flat footed. So, let’s see.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.
