UFC 304 went down last Saturday night (July 27, 2024) inside Co-op Live in Manchester, England, leaving several fighters feeling the post-fight blues. Among them was Curtis Blaydes, who was knocked out by Tom Aspinall in what proved to be one of the quickest championship fights in mixed martial arts (MMA) history (see it again here).
And King Green, who was submitted by Paddy Pimblett in the very first round (see it again here). But which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?
Leon Edwards.
Coming into his third Welterweight title defense, “Rocky” had his confidence level at an all-time high. After all, he had defeated Kamaru Usman twice, Colby Covington, Nate Diaz and was strolling in with a 13-fight unbeaten streak. He already had a go-around with Muhammad, but that first fight ended after just one round due to an inadvertent eye poke. Still, Edwards knew what Muhammad was coming in with.
Or at least he thought he did.
“Remember The Name” flipped the script and surprised everyone with an improved intensity that had “Rocky” perplexed. Muhammad took the center of the Octagon each round and pushed the pace for 25 minutes. He secured nine out of 14 takedown attempts and kept Edwards down when he wanted to.
While “Rocky” was able to get up on a few occasions and land a few strikes, Muhammad dictated the pace of the fight for 25 minutes. Sure, Dana White wasn’t too thrilled with the performance of either man, but it’s unwarranted criticism for Muhammad. He did what he had to do and his performance was suffocating and dominant.
For Edwards, it’s his first loss in nearly a decade and one that stings because he simply didn’t show up. Fighting at 5:00 in the morning isn’t ideal, but that shouldn’t be a reason for his lackluster performance, and credit has to be given to Muhammad for shutting him down.
“I’m not surprised,” Edwards said during his post-fight speech about Muhammad’s performance. “My body just felt tired from round one. All week, I’ve been feeling just tired from the timing. But congrats to Belal. He got the job done and we’ll get it back again,” he added before saying he wants to fight once more this year.
“I would like to get one more this year,” Edwards said. “So whenever, November or December, I’m ready to go. One more this year. I’m ready to go.”
A rematch against Muhammad is not likely — at least not for three years, according to the new champion. As for what realistically could be next for “Rocky,” a showdown against the winner of the upcoming bout between Gilbert Burns (No. 6) and Sean Brady (No. 8) — which is set to go down on Sept. 7 — seems appropriate. A trilogy fight against Kamaru Usman doesn’t make sense, while Jack Della Maddalena and Ian Garry seem to be on a collision course, leaving only Burns and Brady as viable options.
For complete UFC 304: “Edwards vs. Muhammad” results and play-by-play, click HERE.