Leon Edwards’ head coach, Dave Lovell, is eyeing a prize fight with Conor McGregor if he gets past Belal Muhammad this weekend. The Palestinian-American wants to make history by defeating Edwards for the title. As such, Muhammad’s team thinks Edwards has a tall task to overcome at UFC 304.
The ceremonial Fight Week UFC ‘Embedded’ Vlog series is here to document what is happening in the Island Kingdom. During the first video series, Muhammad’s striking coach, Horatio Gutierrez, addressed their prep while speaking to the camera. He even cued in a “Mexican style” of boxing akin to the great Canelo Álvarez.
We have been waiting for this opportunity for a couple of years already. There’s a little unfinished business with Leon, …His hands are really, really good right now; they’re sharp, they’re fast. We’ve got him the Mexican boxing style. If you guys watch Canelo…all those guys, Belal has hands like that right now. So Leon better be ready for that.
Horatio Gutierrez during UFC 304 ‘Embedded,’ Vlog Series: No. 1; H/T: mmanews/com
Many are betting on renowned striker Leon Edwards to outwork Muhammad in their upcoming rematch. It is due to the success Edwards had on the feet in their first fight. Belal Muhammad has improved in recent years, earning a TKO win at UFC 280. Additionally, Khabib Nurmagomedov is also devising game plans for the fighter. As such, Team Belal remains confident.
Muhammad’s coach touts his standup skills as that of Canelo Alvarez. Muhammad himself wants a UFC 229 Conor McGregor-esque clash. However, the Jamaican-born Brit is a whole other beast in the shock-and-awe-striking game.
More to it, both Edwards and Conor McGregor himself (a since-deleted tweet) mocked the claims. ‘Mystic Mac’ already has choice words for the state of the division. Edwards also thinks the 36-year-old’s long layoff will affect his pace against him. A slow “Boxer Belal”? That’s a strict no-no!
Tale of the tape: How does Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad match up before UFC 304?
A skill-to-skill comparison with super middleweight undisputed champ Canelo Alvarez seems atrocious. Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) has won titles in four different divisions; the boxer out of Guadalajara, MX, is quite literally the face of the sport right now. Or is this a surprising notion of things to come? As for current comparisons, Belal Muhammad does not tread far behind his divisional champ.
Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards, Belal Muhammad; for UFC 304 PPV (Source: UFC.go.com/Instagram)Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) will meet Leon Edwards three years after their first encounter, which ended unceremoniously in an eye poke. The Team Valle Flow Striking fighter is 13-1 with one no-contest in his past 14 fights dating back to February 2017.
His lone skid came against Geoff Neal at UFC on ESPN+ 1. Muhammad’s 10-fight UFC welterweight unbeaten streak is the second-longest active streak behind Edwards [13]. However, ‘Remember the Name’ has 11 of his 14 UFC career wins by decision. It’s not matching what his coach thinks.
But even an all-around 170 lbs G.O.A.T. Georges St-Pierre has 12 decisions to his name. Muhammad also has an average 93.3 percent takedown defense, the second-best rate in divisional history behind Kamaru Usman (97.3 percent). Meanwhile, southpaw ‘Rocky’ is one of two undisputed British titleholders in UFC history.
His eight-second KO of Seth Baczynski at UFC Fight Night 64 is the third fastest in UFC welterweight history. Edwards’ 13-fight UFC unbeaten streak at welterweight is only capped by his shock striking. As such, will it prove good enough to retain gold? Only time will tell.
