Tag: leon edwards

‘Love Or Hate Belal, He Came, He Saw & Conquered!’ – MMA Fighters React After Belal Muhammad Imposes His Will (Mostly) On Leon Edwards At UFC 304

Muhammad got right to work with what works best for him, scoring a pair of takedowns early. Edwards had good connections on the feet during the round, but Muhammad connected with a late uppercut that seemed to rock Edwards. Muhammad then completely had his way with the defending champion in the second round, landing a […]

Continue Reading ‘Love Or Hate Belal, He Came, He Saw & Conquered!’ – MMA Fighters React After Belal Muhammad Imposes His Will (Mostly) On Leon Edwards At UFC 304 at MMA News.

Muhammad got right to work with what works best for him, scoring a pair of takedowns early. Edwards had good connections on the feet during the round, but Muhammad connected with a late uppercut that seemed to rock Edwards.

Muhammad then completely had his way with the defending champion in the second round, landing a couple of more takedowns and showing complete pressure and control. This included a takedown where Edwards was notably dumped on his head.

Edwards fought back against Muhammad’s pressure in the third round, taking control on the ground and getting to Muhammad’s back with a body triangle, threatening a choke. Edwards looked to land in the fourth and had solid connections. But Muhammad answered and went back to his wrestling pressure, scoring another takedown and having complete control of Edwards’s back this time around.

The two exchanged early in the fifth round, with Edwards fending off a takedown attempt. But Muhammad pressured him back to the fence and took a hold of him again. There, Muhammad got another body lock and another takedown, overwhelming Edwards with wrestling. Edwards busted Muhammad open with two elbows in the fight’s closing seconds, but it was too little, too late.

Muhammad won on all three scorecards, with two 48-47s and a 49-46.

Belal Muhammad Claims Welterweight Championship With Decision Win Over Leon Edwards At UFC 304

Muhammad has won all but two fights in the UFC since 2017. This now marks six straight wins for Muhammad since a no-contest in his first fight with Edwards.

This marks Edwards’s first loss since dropping his initial battle with Kamaru Usman at the end of 2015. Edwards won the welterweight title at UFC 278 with a fifth-round knockout of Usman and retained in a trilogy fight with Usman, as well as Colby Covington.

Continue Reading ‘Love Or Hate Belal, He Came, He Saw & Conquered!’ – MMA Fighters React After Belal Muhammad Imposes His Will (Mostly) On Leon Edwards At UFC 304 at MMA News.

Belal Muhammad stuns Leon Edwards, wins welterweight title via unanimous decision – UFC 304 Highlights

Belal Muhammad14 months removed from his last appearance inside the Octagon, top-ranked contender Belal Muhammad stepped into the main event…

Belal Muhammad

14 months removed from his last appearance inside the Octagon, top-ranked contender Belal Muhammad stepped into the main event spotlight at UFC 304 looking to land a massive upset over reigning welterweight world champion Leon Edwards.

Muhammad got his ground game going right out the gate, securing a solid takedown against the fence. Before long, Edwards was able to muscle his way back up and went to work on the feet, lighting up Muhammad with a series of solid strikes. With less than a minute to go in the first, Muhammad appeared to clip Edwards, forcing the champ back and allowing the challenger to secure another clean takedown to close the round.

Belal Muhammad

Muhammad picked up right where he left off in the second, backing up Edwards with some strikes before shooting in and taking the champ’s back. Every time ‘Rocky’ would fight his way back up, Muhammad would ragdoll him back down to the canvas.

In a near-disastrous moment, ‘Remember The Name’ inadvertently spiked Edwards on the top of his head during a mat return, though the referee either didn’t notice or simply chose not to address it.

Belal Muhammad

After giving up two rounds, Leon Edwards turned the tables in the third, revering a takedown from Muhammad and taking his opponent’s back. Rocky’ slapped on a body triangle and went fishing for a rear-naked choke, but ‘Bully B’ prevented Edwards from cinching anything in.

Round four saw Muhammad back in control, landing another early takedown and taking Edwards’ back. In the final 30 seconds, ‘Rocky’ reversed the position, but was unable to muster before the bell. It was more of the same in the fifth with ‘Remember The Name’ taking Edwards down and quickly controlling his back.

Belal Muhammad

With time running out, Edwards reversed position and dropped some nasty elbows from the top position, busting open Muhammad and bloodying him. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to close the gap on the scorecards.

Official Result: Belal Muhammad def. Leon Edwards via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) to win the UFC welterweight world championship

GTjM 9gXgAAOdhZ

Check Out Highlights From Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad at UFC 304:

Belal Muhammad: Leon Edwards Gets ‘Too Much Credit’ For Kamaru Usman Wins 

UFC welterweight Belal Muhammad was seemingly not too impressed by Leon Edwards’ title win and successful defense against Kamaru Usman. Muhammad will mark the latest challenger in the reign of Edwards this weekend, with the pair set to run it back in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 304 pay-per-view at the Co-op Live arena […]

Continue Reading Belal Muhammad: Leon Edwards Gets ‘Too Much Credit’ For Kamaru Usman Wins  at MMA News.

UFC welterweight Belal Muhammad was seemingly not too impressed by Leon Edwards’ title win and successful defense against Kamaru Usman.

Muhammad will mark the latest challenger in the reign of Edwards this weekend, with the pair set to run it back in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 304 pay-per-view at the Co-op Live arena in Manchester, England.

While the champion has dismissed talk of bad blood between the pair, “Remember the Name” has been open in expressing his disdain for his rival ahead of his opportunity to dethrone him in enemy territory.

More than just a personal hatred for “Rocky,” Muhammad has frequently attempted to take away from his achievements on mixed martial arts’ biggest stage.

During UFC 304 fight week, that’s included branding both of Edwards’ wins over the great Usman as unimpressive…

Muhammad Insists His Strength Of Schedule Trumps Edwards’

During a fight week interview for UFC.com, Muhammad looked ahead to his long-awaited first title shot and assessed the man at the expense of whom he’s tasked with winning the belt.

The challenger has long questioned Edwards’ own path to the championship en route to facing Usman in 2022. But in his latest remarks, Muhammad even downplayed his last-gasp knockout of “The Nigerian Nightmare” to capture gold and subsequent five-round win over the ex-champ to defend it in their trilogy fight.

“I’ve had the harder journey,” Muhammad said. “He’s fought Nate Diaz, who is a lightweight. Then he got the Usman fighter, getting beat up and threw a Hail Mary, caught him with it. And then the third fight with Usman wasn’t the same Usman. I think people give Leon a little bit too much credit. I don’t think Usman was the same person. And then the Colby (Covington) fight, I don’t even consider that a fight. Both guys suck.

“Not impressed at all. It’s impressive that he found that needle in a haystack to catch Usman with that kick. But other than that, I think I’ve fought and had to go through tougher tests than him,” Muhammad continued. “I’ve showed more in my fights than he’s showed in his.”

Muhammad will look to prove that he’s a bigger threat to Edwards than both Covington and Usman when the cage door closes behind him and the champ at UFC 304 on Saturday night.

Continue Reading Belal Muhammad: Leon Edwards Gets ‘Too Much Credit’ For Kamaru Usman Wins  at MMA News.