Belal Muhammad’s revenge was a long time coming, and he’s eager to savor it.
“Remember the Name” exited Co-op Live in Manchester, England, as the new UFC welterweight champion after defeating Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC 304. It was the second meeting between the two fighters, with the first ending in a no contest when an eye-poke left Muhammad unable to continue after a little over five minutes of action.
That was back in March 2021. This time, Muhammad and Edwards went a full five rounds, much of which was dominated by Muhammad’s grappling. The judges were unanimous in their verdict — a unanimous nod for Muhammad — which ended a 13-fight unbeaten stretch for Edwards.
To say that Muhammad was vindicated in their rematch would be an understatement.
“I know I’m the best fighter in the world,” Muhammad said at the evening’s post-fight press conference. “I just had to prove it and I had to show you guys. We had three years and I had to sit there and dwell on that last fight, of everybody saying, ‘Oh, he would have beat him.’ ‘ He would have won the other rounds. He would have did this, he would have did that.’ We didn’t even get started that fight.
“This fight, we got started. This is what we did. We just dominated the champion, we made it look easy. We did it better than Colby [Covington] did, better than [Kamaru] Usman did, and they’re national champ wrestlers. They’re this, this, and this. We went to Bogan High School, shout out to Lou Taylor.”
So would Muhammad be willing to book a trilogy next?
“Yeah, I’ll give him a rematch in three years,” Muhammad said. “Let him work his way back up. I think it was a dominant fight. There’s really no need for a rematch and I don’t think he had that long reign of a champion where he’s entitled to a rematch. For me, I came to his hometown in front of his people and in enemy territory, so it was all a layup for him. But I blocked it.”
Belal Muhammad willing to give Leon Edwards a trilogy bout after UFC 304 ... in 3 years - MMA Fighting
