Leon Edwards vs Belal Muhammad II in the works for UFC 300
It looks like we’ll see a quick turnaround from UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards (22-3, 1 NC), who is expected to appear in his fourth-straight championship bout at UFC 300.
UFC 300 is to go down on April 13, 2024, live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ariel Helwani recently made the following post to his Twitter account in light of the news:
“As he mentioned yesterday, the plan is for Leon Edwards to defend his title at UFC 300. As of now, the opponent slated to face him would be Belal Muhammad. Shavkat Rakhmonov was definitely in the mix, too.”
Edwards is expected to go into his third title defense opposing no. 2 ranked Belal Muhammad (23-3, 1 NC), a rematch of their 2021 encounter that resulted in a no contest 18 seconds into round two. After a strong opening round performed by Edwards, he ended up landing an accidental eye poke that rendered Muhammad unable to continue.
Both talents went into that bout with a record of 18-3, and both left with a record of 18-3 (1 NC).
Since then, Edwards defeated former lightweight title challenger Nate Diaz (UD) later that year before going into his title fight with then champion Kamaru Usman, a rematch of their 2015 encounter that saw Usman victorious via unanimous decision.
After a dominant round one by Edwards, he got absolutely mauled in rounds two, three, four, and much of five leading up to his stunning and devastating head kick KO at 4:04 of the final round that saw him capture the UFC welterweight championship.
Edwards would defend most of Usman’s takedowns in their trilogy bout whilst outstriking him en route to a majority decision victory where he made the first successful defense of his title.
This led up to his most recent performance, where he handily defeated then no. 3 ranked Colby Covington (UD) in the final bout of 2023 at UFC 296.
Belal Muhammad on that same note has also done nothing but win since their first encounter; he’s really leveled up over the last couple years despite what most fans have to say about him (being boring).
Muhammad has since won five-straight over the likes of former two-division title challenger Demian Maia (UD), no. 6 ranked former two-time welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson (UD), no. 9 ranked Vicente Luque (UD), who was 10-1 in his last 11 with nine finishes going in, and who he avenged an earlier defeat against in 2022, former CFFC welterweight champion and current no. 7 ranked Sean Brady (TKO), and most recently no. 4 ranked former welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns (UD).
No. 3 ranked Shavkat Rakhmonov would also be a very intriguing bout for the champion. But, the 18-0 finisher is 29 years of age, while Muhammad is 35. Despite Rakhmonov boasting 18 finishes in 18 wins and Muhammad seemingly never finishing anyone, the UFC probably made the right choice in giving Muhammad his shot first.
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