After an agonizing wait, Belal Muhammad will finally get his opportunity to rematch Leon Edwards for the UFC welterweight title.
Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) has been endlessly prodding at Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) to assign a date for them to run it back, and it will happen at UFC 304 on July 27 in Manchester, England.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the matchup Thursday on social media. In addition, White announced a co-feature of interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall in a rematch with Curtis Blaydes, plus Paddy Pimblett vs. Bobby Green.
Edwards, No. 1 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie welterweight rankings, will attempt to make his third consecutive title defense in the bout. He claimed gold in August 2022 with a shocking come-from-behind knockout of Kamaru Usman, then logged his first defense in an immediate rematch.
“Rocky” defeated Colby Covington by lopsided unanimous decision to retain his belt for a second time at UFC 296 in December. He was rumored to headline UFC 300 in April with Islam Makhachev, Shavkat Rakhmonov and Khamzat Chimaev being fights that were proposed, which resulted in much ire from the deserving top contender.
In the end, however, No. 3-ranked Muhammad gets his chance at gold on the strength of a 10-fight unbeaten streak that includes notables such as Gilbert Burns, Sean Brady, Vicente Luque and Stephen Thompson.
The only blemish on Muhammad’s resume since January 2019 is the no contest in his first encounter with Edwards at UFC Fight Night 187 in March 2021. The fight was halted in the second round when Edwards landed an accidental eye poke, and Muhammad was unable to continue.
Edwards repeatedly has said he thinks he was going to cruise to a victory on that night, while Muhammad argues he was just warming up after accepting the matchup on short notice.
The UFC 304 lineup includes:
- Champ Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad – for welterweight title
- Interim champ Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes – for interim heavyweight title
- Bobby Green vs. Paddy Pimblett
- Manel Kape vs. Muhammad Mokaev
- Arnold Allen vs. Giga Chikadze
- Daniel Pineda vs. Nathaniel Wood
- Shauna Bannon vs. Ravena Oliveira
- Bruna Brasil vs. Molly McCann
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.
