Belal Muhammad rejects the idea that he was being dominated by Leon Edwards in their initial encounter. Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) and UFC welterweight champion Edwards went head-to-head in March 2021, resulting in a no contest after Muhammad was accidentally poked in the eye by Edwards in the early stages of the second round, leaving him unable to continue. Edwards (22-3 MMA, 14-2 UFC) managed to land a head kick on Muhammad in the first round, but Muhammad argues that they barely had the chance to engage in a full-fledged battle for such conclusions to be drawn. To support his argument, Muhammad points to Edwards’ knockout victory over Kamaru Usman at UFC 278, which secured him the title. Muhammad expressed his views on the Overdogs Podcast, stating, “They will claim, ‘Oh, he was dominating you in that first fight,’ but he is essentially the prime example of why we have five rounds, right? If that were the case, he was being dominated by Usman for four rounds, and we didn’t need the fifth round – but he emerged victorious in the final 30 seconds of the fifth round. As for me, I improve as the fight progresses. We only had one round, and it was a 10-9 round.” Muhammad believes that Michael Bisping played a role in shaping this narrative, accusing him of displaying favoritism towards his fellow Brit, Edwards. Muhammad stated, “People haven’t really witnessed the fight yet to be able to say, ‘Oh, you got dominated’ – because it’s simply a narrative, right? ‘Leon claimed he was going to destroy him anyway, so I believe Leon’ – Michael Bisping said that, but Michael Bisping is the most biased person in the world. You can say whatever you want to say.” With an unbeaten streak of 10 fights, Muhammad is anticipated to be Edwards’ next opponent. Their rematch has been rumored to take place at UFC 300 on April 13, but official confirmation is still pending.
According to the Source mmajunkie.usatoday.com