Leon Edwards was in hot demand for the historic UFC 300 event this weekend (Sat., April 13, 2024).
UFC CEO, Dana White, revealed in the lead-up to the event that the Welterweight champion was offered three opponents for the main event inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Unfortunately for Edwards, none of the three were able to make the match up a reality for one reason or another.
Edwards’ manager, Tim Simpson, has revealed that talks with UFC CBO, Hunter Campbell, began as soon as Edwards last defended his title by earning a unanimous decision win over Colby Covington at UFC 296 in December 2023 (watch highlights). The top option? None other than current Middleweight contender and former ranked Welterweight, Khamzat Chimaev, who has been booked to fight Edwards multiple times in the past.
“I said, ‘Belal [Muhammad]?’ and he’s like, ‘We’ll see,’” Simpson said on The MMA Hour of his conversation with Campell. “What does that mean? Who else is there? Then as we got closer, as we’re getting to eight to 10 weeks out, they said, ‘What about Khamzat Chimaev [at 170 for the title]?’ Again, I don’t want to open the curtain too much, but Khamzat has spoken about this publicly, that’s what they were working on. For whatever reason, it couldn’t come. He said Ramadan and weight, and everything.
“Loved it,” he continued. “They have to fight. Whether Leon goes up to ‘85, they have to fight. This is the fifth time he’s agreed to fight him. Leon very much favors his chances against him. They have to fight at some stage. We loved it.”
Despite Muhammad being positioned as the clear No. 1 contender in the Welterweight ranks, he simply wasn’t in the mix for UFC 300. Meanwhile, Chimaev has recently been matched with former Middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker, to headline UFC Saudi Arabia on June 22, 2024.
“Called back a couple days later, ‘Will you fight [UFC Lightweight champion] Islam Makhachev at 170 for the title?’” Simpson said. “Leon was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’ I guess Islam as well also had Ramadan in preparation, and then they said, ‘Listen, can we really on him if we go to Shavkat [Rakhmonov]?’ You can rely on him if you go to anybody. So, yeah.
“[Muhammad] was asked by us,” he continued. “I assumed that’s what it was gonna be, but no, there was no discussion about him being on 300. I don’t want to pile on Belal Muhammad. I don’t know him. He seems like a decent enough guy. It doesn’t surprise me, no. I mean, Belal and Leon is probably not the marquee fight you want for this event if I can say that respectfully.”
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