Belal Muhammad dethroned the champ at UFC 304 to leave Manchester fans distraught. His dominant showing against welterweight top crop Leon Edwards was levels above what anybody expected. It goes to show why the Palestinian-American fighter has built up such a willful ember demanding his shot at the title. UFC commentator Daniel Cormier canโt help but see a touch of Khabib Nurmagomedov in him.
DC is a close friend of โEagleโ after having had multiple spars with him and other AKA members over the years. When Fight Week rolled up, Muhammad told Shakiel Mahjouri that Khabib Nurmagomedov had dissected Edwards down for him in camp. To that end, Daniel Cormier notices the changes as clear as day.
He really did look like Khabib if I’m being completely honest. The pace, the pressure…the wrestling…and you know what, the strikingโฆY’know, Belal gets a bit of a bad rap and at times they say he’s boring, and I will tell you right now, that was the furthest thing from a boring fight from the new champion.
Daniel Cormier in his Co-Op Live post-fight panel reaction video/ ๐ฅ Credit: @DC_MMA
Taking to his socials, Khabib humbly veered to the new champโs camp and coaches, crediting his success. However, Belal Muhammad outstruck โRockyโ in front of a 23,000-home crowd packed into the new Co-Op Live Arena. Despite scrapping into the night and the following morning, the 36-year-old empathetically executed takedowns and weakened Leon Edwards, as Nurmagomedov once did.
Khabib is legendary even to this date, with how unforgiving he was with his top mount and transition to skill-to-skill hitboxes. The current champ might not be there yet, but Muhammad showed leaps and strides of improvement. Edwards, many fans, and even head honcho Dana White said he wasnโt an interesting option for Aprilโs milestone pay-per-view event. Muhammad proved everyone wrong.
Belal Muhammad, fighters, and MMA pundits react to his win
Is the catchphrase โSpider-Man, โฆdoes whatever a spider canโ familiar? It should be; the comic book superhero is a fan-favorite for all time. It has also seen an offshoot meme from the 90โs Spider-Man Show, where one web-slinger points to another. MMA notables have used that iconic meme before, as well. But that meme is for the old days. It now says, โMuhammad, manโฆdoes whatever Canelo Alvarez canโ.
Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) insisted he won the affair against Leon Edwards. During UFC 304 Fight Week, striking coachย Horatio Gutierrez said in UFC 304 โEmbedded,โ Vlog Series: No. 1 that his boxing skills and speed were at par with Canelo Alvarez. The matter had earned him the wrath of fans. However, Belal Muhammad did significantly outstrike with much speed and acumen.
Muhammad liked a few doctored memes of that Spider-Man theme that show him and Alvarez pointing at each other as the same. He also posted pre-fight snippets of him parrying around with tremendous speed. Other than Daniel Cormier saying he saw signs of Khabib Nurmagomedovโs pointers, others reacted as well.
Consequently, some peers said it was a pure โbully beatdown.โ UFC 304 saw Edwards with some slick grappling at last. However, Belal Muhammad pummeled him dominantly. His 11-fight UFC unbeaten streak at welterweight is the longest active in the division right now. As such, itโs very easy to โRemember the Name.โ