Belal Muhammad has officially been crowned the UFC welterweight champion after defeating Leon Edwards in a unanimous decision during the main event of UFC 304.
Muhammad defeated Edwards with a combination of dominant grappling and solid striking that began almost immediately after the fight began. Muhammad took Edwards to the ground multiple times during the first round.
The ground attack continued throughout the rest of the fight, as Muhammad kept the fight close with quick strikes and took Edwards to the ground whenever the two were near the fence.
This strategy allowed Muhammad to keep Edwards’s number of significant strikes to just 71, a noticeable decrease from the over 100 significant strikes thrown in his two previous fights, per Forbes.
The judges determined Muhammad controlled the fight throughout, scoring the event 48-47, 48-4, and 49-46 to give him the unanimous victory.
This fight was a rematch of the 2021 matchup between the two fighters in which Muhammad had to leave early after being poked in the eye, saying after this most recent fight that there is “a real champion in Chicago now,” per ESPN.
Muhammad also broke a well-known “curse” that has become popular in recent years, becoming the first fighter over 35 years old to defeat a reigning champion while fighting at or below 170 pounds, according to Forbes.
After the fight, Muhammad said fans should stop comparing him to former fighters, claiming that this win should silence all the noise.
“He said I’m no Khabib [Nurmagomedov] or Georges St-Pierre. I’m Belal Muhammad,” he said, calling out Edwards’ remarks before the fight, per ESPN.
“I’m my own man. Now the world knows it and sees it, now they have to respect it. I’m a world champion,” Muhammad said.
Edwards said after the fight that he felt off leading into the event because of the late start, which resulted from the PPV originally being slotted for Salt Lake City, Utah.
“From round one, all week I’ve been feeling just tired from the timing [of it], but congrats to Belal, you got the job done, and we’ll get it back again,” he said, per Bloody Elbow.
While Edwards said he was prepared for another fight in November or December, he was unsure whether it would be another rematch with Muhammad or if he would take on another fighter before attempting to regain the title.