At long last, Belal
Muhammad is getting his shot at
Ultimate Fighting Championship gold.
The UFC announced
on Thursday that
UFC 304 now has its main attraction. Atop the billing at the
Co-op Live in Manchester, England, is a welterweight title tilt
pitting Leon
Edwards (22-3, 1 NC) against Muhammad (23-3, 1 NC). The two
first tangled in 2021, and the bout ended via no contest after
Edwards landed an accidental eye poke. This July 27 show will
feature a champ on a 13-fight unbeaten streak compared to the
challenger who has not lost in his last 10 outings.
Edwards claimed the 170-pound throne from Kamaru
Usman in 2022, laying waste to the champ with a “Knockout of
the Year”-worthy head kick. Their rematch about seven months later
also went the Brit’s way, as he prevailed by majority decision. His
first defense against someone not named Usman came in December
against Colby
Covington, and Edwards cruised to a decision by winning four
rounds to one. On his run to gold, Edwards beat names including
Rafael dos
Anjos, Donald
Cerrone, Vicente
Luque and Nate Diaz.
Since a three-round setback to Geoff Neal in
2019, Muhammad has not looked back. Of note, his last five foes—all
victories—were all in the top 10 when facing them, as he outworked
Gilbert
Burns, Sean Brady,
Luque, Stephen
Thompson and Demian Maia.
Of note, he handed Brady his lone career defeat, doing so by a
stoppage via strikes. “Remember the Name” holds a low overall
finish rate of 26%, with just two wins inside the distance in his
current 10-match run.