This past Saturday night in the main event of UFC 304, the welterweight title was on the line. Leon Edwards (22-4, 1 NC) was looking to defend his title against Belal Muhammad (24-3, 1 NC). These two originally had a fight in 2021 that ended in a No Contest after Edwards accidentally poked Muhammad in the eye.
For Leon Edwards, distance was going to be a huge factor in this title defense. He had to keep Muhammad at range where he could do his best work. Well, Muhammad never gave him any space from the opening bell. Muhammad immediately went on the attack and didn’t give Edwards any space to breathe.
Big combinations and takedowns were the story of round one. The second round featured much of the same including Muhammad hurting Edwards on the feet. Edwards had a slick reversal in the third round which allowed him to control Muhammad on the ground making the fight closer.
However, the last two rounds featured Muhammad’s suffocating pace and pressure dominating the fight. Edwards did get one more reversal late in the fifth round and did a ton of damage with elbows. That was enough to give him the fifth round on my scorecard, but at the end of the day, myself and all three judges agreed that Belal Muhammad was the winner and he became the UFC welterweight champion.
What’s next after UFC 304?
When Colby Covington fought Leon Edwards back in December, many thought that Covington’s suffocating pace would potentially get to Edwards. Covington never fought that way in December, but Belal Muhammad fought that way on Saturday night and it proved to be something that Edwards couldn’t overcome.
It was a surprisingly dominating performance by the now UFC welterweight champion. After the event ended, Dana White hinted that Leon Edwards wouldn’t be getting an immediate title shot. So, if Edwards is out, who is going to get the next crack at the title?
There’s really only two options and those options are Shavkat Rakhmonov and Kamaru Usman. Usman has lost three in a row including two fights to Leon Edwards. He hasn’t fought since stepping up for the UFC against Khamzat Chimaev last year on short notice. I don’t like this option, but I could see Usman getting a look because of his history in the division.
Shavkat Rakhmonov should get the next shot. Rakhmonov is a bad boy who is 18-0 with a 100% finish rate. This is the fight to make and it’s a nightmare of a fight for Belal Muhammad from a stylistic standpoint.