Leon Edwards reacts to ‘deluded’ Belal Muhammad having Khabib Nurmagomedov in corner for Manchester fight

Leon Edwards will be defending his welterweight title against Belal Muhammad at UFC 304. Ahead of the fight, Muhammad has been training with Khabib Nurmagomedov and fans are expecting the ‘Eagle’ to corner Muhammad. However, that doesn’t seem to bother Edwards. 

Belal Muhammad has waited a long time for the title opportunity and has plans to mentally break Leon Edwards down to make history at UFC 304. Muhammad has claimed that in their first bout, he was winning before it was declared no-contest due to an eye poke. However, the Brit doesn’t think that’s the case and has called out the challenger on his delusion. 

Deluded, he’s talking a lot of sh*t, so make sure you can back it up. Like I said, he’s been off over a year. The way he talks is like he was winning the first fight, so a bit deluded.
Leon Edwards via Red Corner MMA 

Edwards also expressed his views about Khabib Nurmagomedov potentially being in Muhammad’s corner. According to the fighter, Muhammad’s dependency on Nurmagomedov is a mental win for him. ‘Remember the Name’ has been training with Team Khabib for a long time now and had plans to move to Dagestan ahead of the Manchester fight. 

On the other hand, lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev has also talked about moving up in order to fight for the champ-champ status. Makhachev is confident about his chances of beating Edwards in a future fight. The Dagestani champ has claimed that he knows a lot about him through the sparring session they had years ago. 

Leon Edwards talks about sparing with Islam Makhachev and potentially facing him and Khabib Nurmagomedov in the future

Earlier, Leon Edwards used to train at the American Kickboxing Academy under Javier Mendez. He trained with the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, and Daniel Cormier. Edwards still has a lot of respect for Team Khabib and even went viral for congratulating Makhachev after his title win at UFC 280.

Leon Edwards talks about fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov’s student Islam Makhachev (via X)

However, if he wins at UFC 304, he might find himself in a position to fight Makhachev. While talking about the sparring session with the Dagestani, Edwards revealed that he doesn’t remember much from that encounter. 

I did eight years ago. We spar together for one round….I think I appreciate their approach to the fight. Their wrestling-heavy style 
Leon Edwards via Red Corner MMA 

UFC CEO, Dana White has already given the green light to Makhachev’s potential move to welterweight. While fighters like Arman Tsarukyan would like to get their title shot first, it won’t be surprising to see Makhachev vs. Edwards at the end of this year. Nevertheless, everything depends on the upcoming main event at UFC 304.

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