As rumors of a UFC Manchester card take shape, welterweight Belal Muhammad teases “something’s going to happen soon” as he eyes a title shot against champion Leon Edwards.
After the announcement of Pereira vs Hill, Dana White claimed that the UFC had offered three different opponents to Leon Edwards to headline UFC 300: Islam Makhachev, Shavkat Rakhmonov, and Khamzat Chimaev, all of which ‘Rocky’ reportedly accepted without hesitation.
UFC Manchester card rumored for the Summer
Whilst the UFC is expected to return to the UK at some point over the summer schedule, there is an expectation that the promotion will be traveling north from their usual London home to Manchester.
This is because the brand-new Co-op Live arena is set to open in April and with a capacity of 23,500 people; it will be the largest indoor arena in the UK.
Despite the UK having a growing number of stars who could one day headline such an event, the marquee fight of a UFC Manchester card would most likely include either Tom Aspinall or Muhammad’s long-time nemesis, Leon Edwards.
MMA Mania’s Alex Behunin also reported that the event would be a Fight Night, rather than a PPV.
Belal Muhammad is expecting title fight announcement ‘happens soon’
It’s a fight that has been rumored and speculated on for months at this point, with Belal Muhammad still waiting for confirmation that his next UFC fight will be against Leon Edwards for the welterweight title.
Yet with a UK Fight Night card looming on the UFC’s summer schedule, many fans are expecting an announcement regarding Edwards’ next defense to be made within the next few weeks – including Muhammad himself.
Speaking to Andreas Hale and Alan Jouban on the MMA Today radio show, the 23-3 contender said “I feel like something’s going to happen soon” after being shelved for 10 months following his victory over Gilbert Burns back in mid-2023.
“I’m staying positive with it because I know that there’s rumblings of this Manchester card coming up… I don’t even care where, I don’t care [about the] location. I just want a contract with his name on it in a five-round title fight.”
Whilst many fans believe that Belal will indeed be the next fighter to face ‘Rocky’ in the octagon, ‘Remember The Name’ wasn’t actually one of the three names given to Edwards for UFC 300 – and now he’s calling out Dana White directly:
Belal ‘doesn’t buy’ the UFC offered Leon Edwards three fights
The MMA community was divided by Dana White’s comments regarding the UFC offering Edwards three different opponents for the anniversary PPV, and Muhammad “doesn’t buy” that such offers were made:
“If I’m going to be honest, I don’t really buy the whole ‘we offered him three fights’. Like I know that they offered him to Islam, and I know that Islam turned it down. But I don’t buy that they offered him to Shavkat ’cause Shavkat was hurt, and I don’t buy that they offered it to Khamzat ’cause he ain’t making weight.”
Muhammad, who is currently riding a nine-fight undefeated streak, claimed that the whole debacle was all a ploy to generate more interest in the British superstar:
“So, for me, it was all to hype up Leon…He doesn’t hype himself up and Dana White’s the promoter, he’s got to promote the guy…If they really wanted him on UFC 300, if they wanted Leon on 300, then they could’ve called me, and I would have said yes. That tells me that they didn’t want him on 300 or Leon’s just a hard guy to deal with.”
At the time of writing, neither the UFC Manchester event nor Leon Edwards’ next title defense have been officially confirmed by the organization.