Newly-crowned welterweight champion Leon Edwards will make his first 170-pound title defense against the man he stripped of the strap, former division kingpin Kamaru Usman, atop the UFC 286 pay-per-view (PPV) event on March 18 at The O2 in London, England.
But if something catastrophic should happen and the promotion needs a late replacement, No. 4-ranked welterweight contender Belal Muhammad will be ready.
“I’m hoping that ends up being the situation, where they call me out, bring me out down there because you never know what happens,” Muhammad told The Schmo (transcribed by Farah Hannoun). “Guys have been getting injured day of, day before. I see they’ve done backups for every single title fight, so I don’t understand why they wouldn’t wanna put me on that card. But if they give me the Colby fight before that, I’ll take it. If not, I’m ready to be the backup.”
The promotion has been working on a potential headliner between Muhammad and two-time title challenger Colby Covington, but “Chaos” has yet to commit.
Muhammad (22-3, 1 NC) has won eight in a row, with a “No Contest” against the aforementioned Edwards sandwiched between a pair of impressive win streaks. “Remember the Name” is coming off a technical knockout win over Sean Brady at UFC 280 last October.
For the rest of the UFC 286 fight card and PPV lineup click here.