Fighter On Fighter! Time To ‘Remember The Name’

One of the toughest Welterweights on the roster, Belal Muhammad, will square off with top English talent, Leon Edwards, this Saturday (March 13, 2021) at UFC Vegas 21 inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Muhammad is a fighter to be admired. Here’s a man who did not start martial arts in his infancy, nor is Muhammad a particularly spectacular natural athlete. He found the sport later in life than most of his peers, yet Muhammad has nevertheless managed to climb quite high in an ultra competitive division. More than that, Muhammad quite obviously works his ass off. He’s a hard-nosed fighter willing to push the pace and walk through heavy shots in order to win. A never-say-die type, Muhammad will dig deep and scrap if that’s what the match up calls for or he’s falling behind on the cards.

Let’s take a closer look at his skill set:

Striking

Muhammad is not an athlete blessed with lightning speed or serious knockout power. That’s not to say he’s slow or cannot bust a grape, but it’s important to understand that Muhammad very often fights at a deficit in those areas. As a result, Muhammad relies on the combination of volume and pressure to drag opponents more to his speed.

Muhammad is always working. At range, he’s flicking up kicks at every opportunity. Mostly fighting from the Orthodox stance, Muhammad fires kicks from both legs. If he’s the one circling, Muhammad does a good job of changing directions and trying to time his opponent’s step. If he’s pressuring, Muhammad will flash a jab or feint before kicking.

Either way, Muhammad’s shot selection is smart. His right leg will target the calf of an Orthodox foe, while he’ll switch it up with more body and high kicks when faced with a Southpaw like Takashi Sato. In general, Muhammad’s left kick is more versatile though, as he’ll target all three levels (legs, body, head) with good fluidity. On several occasions, Muhammad has managed to sneak his switch kick under punches, landing to the ribs with great timing.

Really, really smart is a good way to describe Muhammad’s kickboxing and overall game. He understands his strengths and weaknesses, as well as style and stance match ups. He may not always win, but he typically makes the correct choice.

Against Lyman Good, for example, Muhammad could not walk down his foe, which is generally his preferred strategy. Good is, on paper, the sharper striker, and he’s too physically strong and powerful to bully. Rather than walk himself directly into the pocket where Good is most dangerous, he opted to fight from the outside.

At distance, Muhammad managed to frustrate his opponent. He was active with his kicks and direction changes, and he often hid potshot punches behind those changes in direction. Good was looking to set his feet and box, but Muhammad didn’t let him, and whenever Good tried to corner him along the fence, Muhammad used the threat of the takedown to escape.

That’s not to say he didn’t get cracked on occasion — he definitely did. However, Muhammad managed to edge the first two rounds with volume and movement, out-striking the objectively cleaner striker.

In his last bout against Dhiego Lima, Muhammad had little interesting in trading kicks with one of the gnarliest low kickers in his division. Instead, he put the pressure on from the first bell, working behind the jab (often in doubles and triples) to push his foe into the fence. He’d often chase the takedown once near the cage, and when it didn’t work, use those wrestling exchanges to control the fight and land clinch shots.

In addition, Muhammad picked his shots really well. Working behind multiple jabs is smart, but “Remember The Name” also made a habit of going to the body. Jab high-cross low-left hook high was a common combination for the Palestinian athlete, and that’s a great combo to set up the double leg shot. Plus, that body work helped set up his overhand.

Muhammad’s focus on the jab saw his lead leg get a bit chewed up, but he was able to land enough of his own head shots and takedowns to clearly take the win.

Wrestling

Muhammad is not an overwhelming wrestler, but determination and smarts continue to make him effective.

Muhammad has two distinct styles of takedown: in the open and against the fence. He seems to prefer the double-leg shot either way, but there’s differences in execution. In the center of the cage, Muhammad tends to prefer the more MMA-style of running double. He does, however, do a very nice job of cutting the corner, meaning that sometimes his opponent’s sprawl simply transfers him to the back. In addition, Muhammad will attempt simultaneous shot-trips in the open, something he used against Sato to great effect.

Things are a bit different along the fence. Typically, Muhammad will drop lower, often hitting both knees on the canvas as he searches for the hips. There’s a general rule in wrestling never to wrestle from one’s knees, but Muhammad is just using that position briefly, a way to get beneath his foe’s attempted underhooks. Once his hands are locked, Muhammad will rebuild back to his feet before completing the shot.

It’s also worth-mentioning that Muhammad does a nice job of finishing takedowns with big lifts. When in a high-crotch or head outside double leg position, Muhammad applies the “golf club swing” technique I once broke down for Daniel Cormier, rotating his body and lifting his foe to his shoulder.

Defensively, Muhammad holds an incredible 84 percent takedown defense rate inside the Octagon. Part of this can be attributed to fighting a large amount of strikers, but all the same, Muhammad does a great job of fighting hard in wrestling exchanges, immediately looking to control wrists and stuff the head.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

A Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt, Muhammad is not the most active submission grappler. However, he is very quick to jump onto the back, and the rear-naked choke accounts for his single career submission win.

Muhammad’s strategy on the mat is pretty clear — he’s usually looking to jump into back mount. If he’s able to cut the corner on his double-leg shot, he’s in perfect position to start putting hooks in. However, his back-taking is often more the result of necessity rather than choice. Holding down skilled opponents is difficult. Often, Muhammad opts to take his chances and throw hooks in rather than force himself to try to take down his foe a second time if they’re able to wall-walk.

Still, judging by how often he’s able to gain both hooks and control opponents after the takedown, it’s clearly something Muhammad is good at.

Conclusion

On paper, there is no area where Muhammad holds a clear advantage over Edwards. He’s going to take some shots, and his only real path to victory is to make it a dog fight and break his opponent. Fortunately, Muhammad will try his damnedest, which almost guarantees an interesting main event.

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 21 fight card this weekend, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET.

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Andrew Richardson, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, is a professional fighter who trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. In addition to learning alongside world-class talent, Andrew has scouted opponents and developed winning strategies for several of the sport’s most elite fighters.