The UFC 304 mixed martial arts tournament was held in Manchester. In the main event of the evening, the organization’s welterweight champion Leon Edwards defended his belt against Belal Muhammad.
Leon Edwards is number four in the UFC P4P rankings and one of the organization’s top stars. However, the Briton’s path to the top was not easy. He made his debut in mixed martial arts in 2011, and three years later, with an 8-1 record, he signed for the best league in the world. In the UFC, in his first four fights, Leon suffered two defeats, including to Kamaru Usman, and was on the verge of being fired. But Usman’s defeat was the last of his career at the moment. Since 2015, Edwards has not lost in the cage, the Briton had a streak of nine straight victories, then defeated Usman twice, taking away the championship belt from him, and in the last fight he confidently defeated Colby Covington.
What’s so good about Leon Edwards?
An effective striker who translated for Usman. What’s so good about Leon Edwards?
Belal Muhammad entered mixed martial arts a year after Edwards, scored nine straight wins and then attracted the attention of the UFC. In the best league in the world, Belal suffered two losses in three matches as a starter and, like Leon, was on the verge of dismissal. But Muhammad overcame a bad start with four straight wins, and his loss to Neil Jeff in 2019 was the last of his career: after that, Belal scored nine straight wins and qualified for the title fight.
Well, don’t forget that Edwards and Muhammad have already met in the Octagon. In 2021 they shared the cage, but in the second round Leon made a blow to the eye and Belal could not continue the fight. Muhammad could not continue the fight and the fight was declared invalid.
It is interesting that Belal has been training with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team for a long time, which, of course, should have affected Muhammad’s level of training.
In the first seconds of the fight, Muhammad stood up and performed a confident takedown – Edwards missed the opportunity and ended up on the ground. But Belal could not control the champion for long – Leon got up and managed to work in the clinch near the net. Edwards returned the fight to a standing position, where he began to disrupt the challenger from a distance, using kicks on different floors. However, the end of the round again belonged to Belal, who once again managed to score a takedown and took the round with control on the ground.
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The second round began with pressure from the challenger, Belal again tried to get to his feet and after a long hold, Edwards still ended up on the ground. In addition, Muhammad managed to get the champion’s back. Leon seemed to be able to get up, but then another spectacular throw from Belal followed. It was difficult for the champion; Muhammad controlled his opponent on the ground and tried to hold him. Interestingly, at the end of the round, Edwards not only got out, but also managed to get Belal back, although he did not have time to take advantage of his success.
Nothing changed in the third round either; Belal scored a takedown in the opening seconds, although Edwards managed to take his opponent’s back and take an advantageous position. Leon held his opponent tight and constantly threatened to choke him, but Belal defended himself competently and managed to hold on until the gong.
The fourth round began with pressure from Belal and hard punches from Edwards. Muhammad continued to advance, responding with a series of punches to the hands and then with a classic: transfer and grab of Belal’s back. The round was a mirror image of the previous one, only the ground control was now on Muhammad’s side. Only at the end of the round Leon managed to get out of his bad situation.
In the fifth round, the fighters began to exchange positions, the champion got excited and tried to work on the stands, but then Belal dragged him into the fight. For almost the entire round, Muhammad controlled his opponent on the ground; Edwards only got involved at the end, when he managed to cut his opponent’s face on the ground. But this turned out to be not enough.
Belal Muhammad fought a confident fight, imposed his style on his opponent and took the victory by unanimous decision. UFC has a new welterweight champion and now Islam Makhachev’s bid for the second belt is in doubt.
