Belal Muhammad is confident he stops Leon Edwards at UFC 304.
[autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] is confident he stops [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] at UFC 304.
Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) rematches welterweight champion Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) in the July 27 main event at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
Muhammad had to go on a 10-fight unbeaten streak to finally earn his shot at a UFC title. Having beaten numerous specialists during his run, Muhammad feels prepared to have a breakout performance against Edwards.
“Honestly, I think I go in there and knock him out,” Muhammad said in an interview with Sneako. “When I look at my last stylistic matchups, I fought the best striker in the UFC in (Stephen) ‘Wonderboy’ (Thompson). I fought the best grappler in the UFC in Demian Maia.
“I fought great finishers in Vicente Luque. I fought Gilbert Burns on three weeks’ notice. I think all those fights added up to this one fight – like I said, God’s plan. … All those things, they just leveled me up.”
Muhammad sees himself having a similar performance to the one he had at UFC 280, where he finished Sean Brady by TKO to hand him his first-career loss.
“I think right now, I’m the best version of myself,” Muhammad said. “And I think that Leon’s going to get in there, him and his team there in Manchester, they’re going to be surprised. They’re going to be in for a rude awakening.
“People will say whatever they want to say, but my last full camp I knocked out Sean Brady. Gilbert Burns fight was a three weeks’ notice fight. So if we’re going off my last full camp, it was a knockout. This fight, I’m going to knock out Leon Edwards. We’ve been training for this guy for two years.”
Tom Aspinall is still trying to figure out how he’ll fight overnight at UFC 304.
[autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] is still trying to figure out how he’ll fight overnight at UFC 304.
Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) defends his interim title in a rematch against Curtis Blaydes (18-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) in the July 27 co-headliner (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) at Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
Aspinall has expressed his concern about fighting in the middle of the night on numerous occasions, but plans on mimicking the methods of welterweight champion [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag], who runs things back with Belal Muhammad in the night’s headliner.
“Leon has employed a sleep specialist,” Aspinall told Title Sports Network. “I knew about this before because I know Leon’s manager, so I was kind of like, I’m not going to set anything in stone in my mind until I spoke to Leon on what he’s doing.
“Leon basically gave me a full breakdown of his sleep pattern. So I’m essentially going to copy Leon without paying a sleep specialist. That’s the plan. I don’t want to pay anybody, so I’m just getting the advice off Leon and I’m just following what Leon’s doing.”
Aspinall recalls attending the UFC 204 in 2016, and how he struggled with the overnight timings as a spectator.
“I actually think that it’s a lot harder for the fans than it is for the fighters,” Aspinall said. “(I went to) Bisping’s fight years ago when he fought Dan Henderson in Manchester. It’s much tougher for fans.
“Once our adrenaline is going, and we’ve got weeks to prepare for it – I’m going to adjust my body clock bit by bit. Big shout out Leon Edwards’ sleep coach. I’m going to do that so I’m going to be all right, but fans aren’t going to start preparing their body to stay up late. They just have to wing it, so it’s a lot worse.”
The UFC returns to England in July, and two titles will be on the line in rematches.
The UFC returns to England in July, and two titles will be on the line in rematches.
UFC 304 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) is set for July 27 at Co-op Live in Manchester. It will be the promotion’s first visit to England’s second largest city in nearly eight years. Earlier this week, the UFC released the event’s official poster, and it features all four headliners.
In the headliner, England’s own [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) defends his welterweight title in a rematch against [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC). Muhammad will attempt to become the first Palestinian to win a UFC title.
Muhammad has been waiting more than three years for another shot at Edwards. They fought in March 2021, but the main event ended in a no contest when Muhammad was poked in the eye and was unable to continue. Edwards won the title two fights later against Kamaru Usman in a big upset, then beat him in a rematch to defend it and beat Colby Covington this past December, as well.
In the co-feature, England’s [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) will defend his interim heavyweight title for the first time in a rematch against [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] (18-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC). Champion Jon Jones has been out with an injury and is expected to fight former champ Stipe Miocic upon his return, not interim champ Aspinall.
In their first meeting, Blaydes won by TKO in just 15 seconds when Aspinall blew out his knee nearly two years ago. That led to a lengthy recovery and rehab, but he won the interim belt two fights into his return. Aspinall has had just one of his 14 wins go out of the first round.
Check out the UFC 304 poster below.
The latest UFC 304 lineup includes:
Champ Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad – for welterweight title
Interim champ Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes – for interim heavyweight title
Bobby Green vs. Paddy Pimblett
Manel Kape vs. Muhammad Mokaev
Arnold Allen vs. Giga Chikadze
Daniel Pineda vs. Nathaniel Wood
Oban Elliott vs. Preston Parsons
Shauna Bannon vs. Ravena Oliveira
Bruna Brasil vs. Molly McCann
Caolan Loughran vs. Ramon Taveras
Lukasz Brzeski vs. Mick Parkin
Modestas Bukauskas vs. Marcin Prachnio
Kiefer Crosbie vs. Sam Patterson
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.
Rising welterweight contenders Garry (14-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) and Page (22-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) meet June 29 at UFC 303 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
UFC welterweight champion Edwards could see it being a lackluster fight between the two elite strikers, but thinks “MVP” gets the job done.
“I feel like it’s one of these fights where it’s like both guys will play in range and they’re like not committing, waiting to kind of punch each other,” Edwards told Sky Sports. “If I had to put money on it, I’d probably favor ‘MVP.’ It’ll be a good fight. I’m interested to see how it plays out.”
Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) defends his welterweight title in a rematch against Belal Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC), which headlines UFC 304 on July 27 at Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
Garry and Edwards are not currently on the champion’s radar, but he foresees future matchups with them down the line.
“If they both keep winning, 100 percent,” Edwards said. “For me, I only look at No. 1 and No. 2. I think after that, it just gets too … like, just too much coming in. After I beat Belal, that’s how I look at it. I don’t look at No. 10 or 11 or 9 yet. Until they start getting to that No. 5, I’ll be like, ‘OK, who’s this?’ Then I’ll start looking.”
[lawrence-related id=2745625,2743349]
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 303.
Vicente Luque leans towards Leon Edwards beating Belal Muhammad at UFC 304, and explains why.
[autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag] leans towards [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] beating [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] at UFC 304.
Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) defends his welterweight title in a rematch against Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) in the July 27 main event at Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
Luque thinks Muhammad has made many improvements since his Round 2 no contest against Edwards in 2021. Having fought both Muhammad and Edwards – Muhammad twice, Luque gave insight into the title fight rematch.
“It’s a crazy fight,” Luque told MMA Junkie Radio. “If I go from their first fight which ended with that eye poke, I thought Leon was looking much better and he was beating Belal in that fight. But since then, I feel like Belal went building up a great streak. He’s been really, really sharpening up his tools and he knows the kind of fighter he is right now. He’s not a guy that makes many mistakes inside that octagon.”
Luque was also outgrappled by Edwards when they fought in 2017. He thinks the champion’s striking will eventually make the difference against Muhammad.
“For me, I’d say it’s really tied up,” Luque said. They both can really take the win. I would almost put it 50-50, but I’ll go a little bit with Leon just because I think Leon has more versatile striking and he does have some really precise shots, and that can change a fight. I know both of them wrestle really good. I feel like Leon has great wrestling cardio.
“In my fight, we wrestled a lot, and that’s how I ended up getting tired. After that he was just throwing his hands, boxing, and mixing it up with wrestling so, I think that little bit of experience, of ability from Leon, I would put him as a little bit of a favorite. But still, very close fight for me.”
[lawrence-related id=2743203,2742742,2741610]
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.
Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) defends his welterweight title in a rematch against Belal Muhammad in the UFC 304 main event July 27 at Co-op Live in Manchester, England. He likes the idea of facing Makhachev, but not until they both log in a few more title defenses.
“I welcome it,” Edwards told Sky Sports of a Makhachev fight. “I think we’ve both got work to do within our division. Let’s say we both go on this reign, then why not? He just fought his first defense against an actual lightweight (Poirier). I feel like he’s got a few more lightweights he’s got to go through first before he can even think about moving up.
“But if we’re both going on these reigns, then why not later on in the future? We’re both similar age, 32 years old so, what a time to get it done for sure. It’s a massive fight. Feel like I’ve got work to do within my division first then the super fights will come.”
Edwards wants to chase dual-champion status himself.
“I would like to go up and challenge for the middleweight belt, that is my goal,” Edwards said. “But if we can get two at the same time, why not? My excitement is me getting another belt. My plan was to go next year. Defend my belt twice this year. That will be four defenses.
“Maybe one more next year. That’s five defenses. Then later on in the year, have a big middleweight fight. That’s six title fights. That’s more than worth it. That is my goal. Two this year, one next year, then end of next year move up.”
It’ll be in enemy territory and happen overnight, but Belal Muhammad is just eager to get his hands on UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards.
It’ll be in enemy territory and happen overnight, but [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] is just eager to get his hands on UFC welterweight champion [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag].
Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) rematches Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) in the UFC 304 main event July 27 at Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
The prelims for the pay-per-view event will start at 11 p.m. BST (6 p.m. ET) and the main card at 3 a.m. BST (10 p.m. ET) on ESPN+ pay-per-view, following the traditional start times for U.S. pay-per-views. Muhammad will make the walk against Edwards at around 5 a.m. local time.
The inconvenience only adds more to Muhammad’s story in which he’s had to exercise a ton of patience to finally get his title shot.
“For me honestly, I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole career,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie. “I’ve been waiting for this moment since the first Leon fight, just to punch him in his face. Whether it’s 5 a.m., 6 a.m., 8 p.m. – the anger and the fuel that’s inside of me, it doesn’t really matter. I’ll be awake for that. I’ll be awake to frigging punch him in his mouth.
“(People ask), ‘Are you thinking about jet lag? Are you thinking about this?’ I don’t really care about any of that because the adrenaline that’s running through my veins is going to be ready for that night no matter what.”
Muhammad has reached a point where he hates Edwards. Although he’ll be fighting in Edwards’ home country of the U.K., Muhammad doesn’t see himself entering hostile territory.
“I hope his coach shows up at the press conference because I’d rather talk to him or his brother, because Leon’s not really going to bring anything to it,” Muhammad said. “People think I’m going into enemy territory, but bro, Manchester’s full of Muslims. I think it’s going to be a huge, pro-Bully B crowd, and I think there’s going to be more fans there for me than for him.”
[lawrence-related id=2743203,2741610,2741625]
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.
Belal Muhammad thinks the UFC and the fans are sick of Leon Edwards as welterweight champion, and promises to change that at UFC 304.
[autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] thinks the UFC, the fans and the MMA pundits are sick of [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] as welterweight champion, and he plans to take the belt away from him at UFC 304.
Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) will finally get his long-awaited shot at gold when he challenges Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) in the main event of the July 27 card, which takes place at Co-op Live in Manchester, England (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).
It’s been an agonizing wait for Muhammad, who will have been inactive for 14 months since he added to his 10-fight unbeaten streak with a unanimous decision victory over Gilbert Burns in a title eliminator bout at UFC 288 in May 2023. The wait has only motivated Muhammad, though.
“It was definitely frustrating the whole waiting, because I love to fight,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie. “I love to be active. I’m always training. I’m always in the gym, so it was hard. But that’s the guy Leon is. He’s not an active champion. He’s very hard to deal with. Even with that Colby (Covington) fight, it took forever for them to book it. For this fight, it took forever to book it. I think it’s more so because this guy’s training to hold onto that belt as long as possible and act like he’s a longstanding champion and looks at it like, ‘Oh, I’ve been a champion for 300 days’ like it means something.
“In the end, your resume is what means something. When you look at the guys like Kamaru (Usman), who was an active champion, those are the champions you respect – guys like (Israel) Adesanya and (Alexander) Volkanovski, who looked up the next challenger right away. After their fight, they had their next fight booked or set, and they always wanted to fight the next best guy. But Leon, he’s a coward. His team, they’re all afraid and they’re all afraid because they know he’s not that good and they know I’m a terrible matchup for them and they’re trying to delay this as long as possible.”
Muhammad, 35, said he’s eager to rid Edwards of his place as champion and take the crown, and even though he has his credits, he thinks he will be a far more compelling titleholder.
“Nobody hears about Leon – Leon doesn’t talk,” Muhammad said. “He comes on a podcast once every three months and he whispers. Nobody can understand what he’s saying. He looks stupid – doesn’t have confidence. He’s awkward. He’s weird. And I think I’m going to do everyone a favor on July 27: After I beat him, we’re going to be done. We don’t have to hear about him no more. The UFC doesn’t have to promote him no more because he’s not going to be the champion, so then he’ll be forced to do stuff himself.”
The wait to receive his title shot isn’t the only thing that’s generated animosity toward Edwards from Muhammad. Their history plays a big role in the situation, as well.
Edwards and Muhammad previously fought in the main event of UFC Fight Night 187 in March 2021. The bout ended in a no contest in the second round after Edwards poked Muhammad in the eye and he could not continue. Muhammad has been pushing for the rematch ever since, and his disdain toward “Rocky” has only grown over the past three-plus years.
“I literally hate his guts,” Muhammad said. “He’s making me hate people with a London accent. People with that British accent piss me off. Anytime I hear him, anytime I see him, it just makes me angry, because honestly, this delay, the talking on their end, the narrative they’re trying to push with even his coaches and his brother trying to call for other people – they were literally calling for Gilbert Burns after I beat Gilbert Burns. Their whole team just pisses me off.
“They all have low IQ. They’re not very smart. They’re the people that give fighters a bad name because people look at fighters and think we’re dumb. No, there’s fighters that are educated. I have a degree. There’s some guys out there that aren’t that dumb, but when you hear Leon talk, his coaches talk, his team talk, you’re like, ‘Man, all these fighters are dumb as rocks.’ That’s what his whole team is. They’re dumb as rocks. I can’t wait to end them and their team. They’re not going to have nobody else after this once I walk through them.”
[lawrence-related id=2742864,2741610,2741625]
Muhammad is expecting a one-sided contest when he does finally step into the cage with Edwards at UFC 304. He has to travel into his opponent’s home country and fight in the middle of the night local time to complete his mission, but said nothing is going to stop him from getting the job done.
“Honestly I think I’m going to rock him really early, and then I’m going to take him down,” Muhammad said. “I could finish him with a TKO, but I’m just going to let him back up. Then I’m going to look to his coach and I’m going to tell his coach, ‘Yo, give him some motivational words. Tell him to man up. Hurry up.’ And his coach is going to look at me like, ‘I don’t know what to tell him.’ Then I’m just going to hit him again and say, ‘Say something to him.’ Then I’m going to hit him again. Then I’m going to get him in a rear-naked choke, probably in the first round, and then right before he’s about to tap, I’m going to let him go. Then I’m going to let him breathe a little bit, go to his corner, hope his coach gives him some better advice.
“Second round, I’m going to take him down again. I’m going to start hitting him, elbowing him. This time, I’m going to look to his brother like, ‘Bro, you’re not going to come in for your brother? You’re not going to help your brother out?’ Then he’s going to look at me, he’s going to curse at me, he’s going to swear at me. I’m just going to be smiling. Then I’m going to look at Leon and be like, ‘All right, I’m done with you.’ Then I’m going to finish him in the second round. You can call me ‘Mystic Muhammad.'”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.
UFC 304 gets stacked after the announcement of several matchups, including Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad. We break down the key fights on this card in this week’s episode of “Spinning Back Clique.”
On the latest episode of “Spinning Back Clique,” the panel reacts to the big fight announcements for UFC 304.
Last week, UFC CEO Dana White announced several key matchups for the promotion’s return to Manchester including a welterweight title fight between [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] and [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag], [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag]’s defense of his heavyweight interim title against [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag], and [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag].
What do these matchups mean for each respective fighter? What can we expect from these bouts?
MMA Junkie’s Goze Garcia, Farah Hannoun, Danny Segura, and host Gorgeous George break down the biggest fights on the UFC 304 card.
Watch their discussion in the video above, and also don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube.
UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards thinks a title fight against Conor McGregor would be massive.
UFC welterweight champion [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] thinks a title fight against [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] would be massive.
Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) runs things back with Belal Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) in the UFC 304 headliner July 27 in Manchester, England.
Former dual-champion McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) returns in a welterweight bout against Michael Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) in the UFC 303 main event June 29 in Las Vegas.
If both are victorious, Edwards would love to set up a mega fight with “The Notorious” towards the end of the year.
“That would be good – 100 percent. Why not?” Edwards said about fighting McGregor on The MMA Hour. “Let’s give him the opportunity to become a three-division world champion, give me the opportunity to take out a guy like Conor McGregor. New York? That would be perfect.
“That is the fight. He goes out there and takes out Michael, I take out ‘No One Remembers His Name,’ and we’ll go from there. We’ll go to New York, MSG. Let’s go. That’s the fight, I feel. You know, two of us have business to take care of. That’s the fight that needs to happen. It should happen.”
Edwards thinks McGregor will be too much for Chandler.
“I think he beats him,” Edwards said. “If you watch them stylistically, I feel like Conor is a very sharp shooter, like counter shooter, and Chandler plays off his aggression. He likes to entertain the crowd, try to scrap. He’s too small, as well. It’s going to be a good fight, but I’m favoring Conor.”
[lawrence-related id=2712426,2645542,2741610]
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.
