Leon Edwards is less than two weeks away from his next big title defense.
Headlining the promotion’s return to Manchester on Saturday, July 27, ‘Rocky’ will put his welterweight title on the line in a long-awaited clash with the division’s top-ranked contender Belal Muhammad.
Kamaru Usman, the man Edwards took the title off of with the “kick heard around the world” at UFC 278, offered his assessment of the UFC 304 headliner, suggesting that it’s a tough one to call considering both men have been on the shelf for some time.
However, he does believe that a win for ‘Rocky’ will help push his former foe’s name up the coveted P4P rankings.
“I like Leon being a champion, I think he definitely has real skills but as a fan now, I’m frustrated as a fan because this fight should have happened already,” Usman said.
“It’s been such a long time but I’m glad that we were finally about to get the fight and for Leon to actually go in there and prove to people that he is high up on that pound-for-pound list because you know, I got my reservations on the order of that list” (h/t Bloody Elbow).
Leon Edwards’ is often touted as one of the best fighters on the planet courtesy of his technical prowess that has dismantled some of the biggest names in the game. Unfortunately, ‘Rocky’ hasn’t exactly lit up the Octagon with his performances. In particular, his trilogy fight with the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ at UFC 286 and his uneventful showdown with Colby Covington last December.
Usman hopes to see the “killer” in Leon Edwards come out against Belal Muhammad when the champ competes in front of his home country at Co-op Live in the UK.
“I think it’s a good fight, I like the confident way in that Leon is carrying [himself], I think he understands the responsibility of being a champion, how you kind of have to train the mentality that you have to have,” Usman added. “Just a little thing that I would like to see from him is that killer come out because if you know that you’re the top dog, you got to prove it to each and every contender who wants your spot.”
Kamaru Usman is not a fan of leon edwards and Belal Muhammad waiting so long to fight
While neither Leon Edwards nor Belal Muhammad has fought in 2024, ‘Remember The Name’ will be returning after an especially long layoff, having last fought at UFC 288 all the way back in May 2023. On that night, Muhammad scored a big win over Gilbert Burns, extending his unbeaten streak to nine straight.
With the UFC choosing to hand Covington another unearned title opportunity in December, Muhammad opted to sit out instead of putting his spot on the line against another top-10 contender. Some might consider that a smart decision, but Usman believes there are benefits to staying active in the fight game.
“The one thing that I don’t like about this is the layoff, the time that these guys are sitting [out],” Usman said. “This is why boxers are fighting every other month, they’re fighting [often] because that’s how you get into your groove, that’s how you elevate yourself to see if all the stuff that you’ve been working on can actually work.
“When you have these long layoffs and you get in there, your timing is a little bit off, you’re a little gun-shy sometimes, and especially if you’re a champion when you have this long layoff – that mountain of defending starts to get heavier, and heavier, and heavier.”
