Belal Muhammad and Leon Edwards have unfinished business inside the octagon. Before the Brit became champion of the welterweight division, he had fought Muhammad in the main event of UFC Fight Night 187, a fight that ended in a No Contest.
At present, Edwards is on a 12-fight unbeaten streak, compared to the 10-fight unbeaten streak of Muhammad. The two currently have the longest active unbeaten streak in the division. Edwards’ recent comments on his future have not gone well with Muhammad.
Belal Muhammad slams Leon Edwards
Belal Muhammad last fought Gilbert Burns in the co-main event of UFC 288 and won the bout via unanimous decision. The victor of the bout was promised the next title shot after Colby Covington. However, Edwards’ plans for the future do not consider it.
Edwards will be defending his welterweight title against Colby Covington at UFC 296, the final PPV of 2024. He plans to call out the winner of the middleweight title bout at UFC 297. That idea did not go well with the 2nd-ranked welterweight, Belal Muhammad. “Can’t run forever coward”, Muhammad tweeted on X.
Can’t run forever coward https://t.co/hcup2ZwSnS
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) December 7, 2023
Muhammad is presently on a 10-fight unbeaten streak in the welterweight division. This includes nine wins and one No Contest against Leon Edwards. Muhammad is waiting for the title shot that Dana White promised at UFC 288. However, the UFC 296 PPV has two profiled welterweight bouts that have the potential to leapfrog Muhammad.
Ian Garry will be facing Vicent Luque in one of the bouts. Muhmmada is 1-1 against Luque, with the latest victory in his favor. The other fight is between Stephen Thompson and Shavkat Rakhmonov, the undefeated Kazakh fighter with a 100 percent finish rate. Thomspons was already defeated by Muhammad but a victory for Rakhmonov would be a hindrance to Muhammad’s title shot
Leon Edwards allegedly wants to fight Sean Strickland or Dricus Du Plessis
Sean Strickland will be defending his middleweight title at UFC 297, the first PPV of 2024. The event scheduled at the Scotiabank Arena in Vancouver, Canada, also has a women’s bantamweight title fight in the co-headliner. Leon Edwards plans to fight for the middleweight title at UFC 300.
Edwards, in a recent interview with TNT Sports, spoke about his desire to become a double champion. He plans to knock out Colby Covington at UFC 296 and follow it up by fighting the winner of Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 300. His plan was criticized by 2nd ranked welterweight, Belal Muhammad who believes he is next in line for the welterweight title shot.
🚨| Leon Edwards has told @ufcontnt that after he knocks out Colby Covington at #UFC296 he will make a post-fight callout for the winner of the #UFC297 middleweight title fight between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis.#UFC296 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/VQ4pedXZY1
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) December 7, 2023
Sean Strickland won the title at UFC 293 over Israel Adesanya in a fight where he replaced Dricus Du Plessis on short notice. Interestingly, Du Plessis plans to win the title at UFC 297 and defend it against Israel Adesanya. Nevertheless, Leon Edwards believes that he is big enough to compete in the middleweight division.
The former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman had a successful debut at middleweight as he replaced Paulo Costa on short notice at UFC 294 against Khamzat Chimaev. Even though he lost the bout, his performance was praised. That has given extra motivation for Edwards, who defeated Usman twice to become the first double champion from the UK.
Do you think Leon Edwards will be a double champion in the UFC? Comment below!
