Belal Muhammad’s savage response to Leon Edwards coach’s selection of Gilbert Burns as title challenger: “You should be afraid”

Belal Muhammad, the number 2 ranked welterweight contender in the UFC, weighed in as a backup for the UFC 296 main event. Muhammad, on a 9-fight win streak, was promised a title shot by Dana White after his victory over Gilbert Burns at UFC 288.

However, post his victory over Colby Covington, Leon Edwards shrugged off Muhammad’s claim to be the next title challenger. Edwards eased past Covington at UFC 296 and in the post-fight press conference referenced he has many options excluding Muhammad and the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov.

Leon Edwards coach pick Gilbert Burns over Belal Muhammad

Dave Lovell, Leon Edwards’ head coach, is very close to the welterweight champion who lost his father when he was just a young teenager. Lovell, the head coach of Team Renegade Jiu-Jitsu and MMA, essays a father-figure role for the champion. Moreover, Lovell became famous at UFC 278 when he provided an animated encouragement for Edwards when he was down on the scorecard against Usman.

The motivation from Lovell was one of the reasons a rejuvenated Edwards knocked out Usman with a head kick in the final round. Lovell was recently interviewed by Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour. The head coach was asked about his preference for his next title defense by Helwani. “If I had a choice, I would prefer Burns over Belal because I think Burns brings more to the table. “, replied Lovell to Helwani.

“Leon has had a fight with Belal that ended in a no contest, but it looked like Leon was winning the first round, and he was going in for the kill in the second until the eye poke occurred.”, Lovell further added that even though Edwards had a No Contest against Muhammad, he was en route to a finish before the eye poke.

Lovell also said, “We’ll take whoever they throw at us”, showing his readiness to prepare Edwards for whoever the UFC puts in front as the next title challenger at welterweight. In addition to Belal Muhammad, Shavkat Rakhmonov also called out Edwards for a title fight next.

Belal Muhammad lashes out at Leon Edwards and his coach

Belal Muhammad made his frustration clear at Leon Edwards and his team. Dave Lovell’s recent interview with Ariel Helwani did not go unnoticed by the welterweight contender. Muhammad vented out his feelings on X, formerly Twitter.

“So this is how Leon Learns his ducking technique 🦆🦆🦆”, Muhammad tweeted accusing Lovell to be the mastermind behind Edwards’ apparent ducking of Muhammad. Lovell in the interview had said that he would like to fight Gilbert Burns than Muhammad as the next title challenger.

Muhammad did not stop there. He also wrote, “Leon’s opinion doesn’t matter.. his coach doesn’t matter ..the only person I care about is Dana and he gave me his word.. that’s all that matters … “, reminding everyone about the promise that Dana White made him. He even alluded to the fact that Dana White makes the important decision in the UFC and not Edwards or his coach.

“we’re next and the fact that they’re showing fear only gives me more confidence ..you should be afraid”, Muhammad further tweeted sending a stern warning to the Jamaican-British champion. Before UFC 296, Edwards alluded to fighting at UFC 300 for the middleweight title which was blasted by Muhammad who labeled it as a cowardly move.

Do you think Belal Muhammad will win the welterweight title from Leon Edwards? Leave your prediction below!