Belal Muhammad was rather critical of the UFC 296 main event.
Welterweight champion Leon Edwards (22-3 MMA, 14-2 UFC) defeated Colby Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) by unanimous decision to retain his belt this past Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and Muhammad wasn’t impressed.
It was a rather lackluster affair – especially in the first couple of rounds, where Covington was uncharacteristically tentative. Edwards admits Covington’s approach threw him off, but Muhammad expected more from both fighters.
“Honestly, it was a joke to the division,” Muhammad told ESPN after UFC 296. “That’s what happens when you get a bum off the couch (Covington) who’s been out for two years, who didn’t deserve the shot, and he goes out there and he didn’t back up the talk. For Leon Edwards, you should have backed up your talk, too. For what Colby said, he deserved to have his jaw broken.
“I thought Leon should have went out there, he should have embarrassed him and put it on him, but he played that little game. So I think the UFC knows who’s next. I need to get in there. I need to make the welterweight division great again because I’m going to come to fight every single fight. I’m going to be in your face non-stop, 100 percent. There’s not going to be no breathing at all for Leon Edwards.”
Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC), who weighed in as a backup, is eager for his title shot. His first fight with Edwards ended in a no contest, and he vows to put the pressure on the champion if they run things back.
“I’m going to be in his face,” Muhammad said. “I’m going to make him bleed. I’m going to make him breathe hard. I’m going to make him look to his corner and his coach is going to repeat that same statement: ‘Don’t let him bully you, son.’ He’s going to say that every single round, and once the fight’s over, he’s (going to say), ‘You let him bully you, son.’ That’s what I’m going to do to him. I’m going to bully him.”
Edwards insists he doesn’t think Muhammad should be next, and UFC CEO Dana White refused to commit to the idea as well. But Muhammad is ready to step in whenever he gets the call, and pleads to White to give him his shot.
“I’m ready,” Muhammad said. “He didn’t take no damage at all. Colby had like 500 strikes. Probably one of them was significant. They’re all mosquito bites, so Leon Edwards probably just has to go take a quick shower, brush all that dirt off and he’ll be good to go. I hope he doesn’t go on his long tour again.
“He’s very inactive. Stay in the gym, stay ready to go. Whenever you’re ready, I’m ready to go. You can call me on a week’s notice, I’m ready to go. It doesn’t matter when the UFC calls. I just want this title fight. In the words of the famous ‘GSP’ (Georges St-Pierre), ‘Dana, please just give me my shot.'”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.
