Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker is hopeful that Belal Muhammad can dethrone Leon Edwards and become UFC welterweight champion.
Muhammad is expected to face Edwards next for the belt, despite him not being one of the three opponents that was offered to face the champ at UFC 300.
With Muhammad likely being the next opponent for Edwards, Whittaker explained why he would be rooting for him to pull off the upset and dethrone Edwards.
“Yeah, man. The more people hate on him [Belal Muhammad], the more I like him [laughs]. It’s bringing me to his side, I love it, I love it. It’s a fight I wanna see. I wanna see Belal get the belt wrapped around him – wouldn’t that upset a lot of people. Like, the uproar would be fantastic. Not to say I want Leon to lose, because I like Leon Edwards very much. I’m just saying, it’d be a funny dynamic,” Whittaker said on his podcast (via BJPENN).
Currently, Belal Muhammad vs. Leon Edwards is not booked, but all signs point to that fight happening at UFC 304 in Manchester, England.
robert Whittaker backs Belal Muhammad for gold
As for Robert Whittaker, he is set to return to the Octagon on June 22 in the main event of UFC Saudi Arabia against Khamzat Chimaev.
Whittaker is coming off a decision win over Paulo Costa back in February at UFC 298 to return to the win column after a TKO loss to Dricus Du Plessis. The Aussie is 2-2 in his last four, but UFC CEO Dana White has said his fight against Chimaev is a title eliminator fight, as the winner will get a title shot.
It’s expected that Dricus du Plessis will defend his belt against Israel Adesanya next, and the winner of that fight, will face the winner of Whittaker-Chimaev.
Do you think Belal Muhammad can strike Octagon gold this year?