The UFC welterweight division has a new champion as Belal Muhammad outpoints Leon Edwards to claim the 170lb title in Manchester.
After winning the belt in the most dramatic of fashion in Utah, and defending his crown against two of the best welterweights on the roster, Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards’ championship reign has come to a frustrating end in Manchester – but that doesn’t mean that the British superstar’s title aspirations are over.
Leon Edwards vs Belal Muhammad 2: By the numbers post-UFC 304
From the significant strikes to the takedowns, and control time, all the way to the most important figures of the whole fight, the judges’ score totals, Belal Muhammad dominated Leon Edwards in their UFC 304 title rematch last night.
| Leon Edwards | Belal Muhammad | |
| Significant Strikes | 47/71 | 68/121 |
| Total Strikes | 89/114 | 192/281 |
| Takedowns | 2/2 | 9/13 |
| Control Time | 7:11 | 12:02 |
In the aftermath of such a decidedly one-sided fight, the online conversation quickly moved away from the idea of a trilogy fight in favor of ‘fresh blood’ in the form of either 18-0 Shavkat Rakhmonov, or 15-0 Ian Machado Garry.
But what did Edwards himself have to say about what’s next for the 170lb division?
Leon Edwards’ immediate reaction to losing UFC welterweight title
After the welterweight belt was wrapped around Belal Muhammad’s waist, former double champion Daniel Cormier turned to Leon Edwards to get his immediate thoughts on the defeat; his first loss since Kamaru Usman all the way back in 2015.
“I’m not surprised, my body just felt tired you know,” shared an understandably distraught Edwards, who did appear much slower on the feet than usual as the main event ticked past five o’clock in the morning local time.
“From round one, all week I’ve been feeling just tired from the timing [of it] but congrats to Belal, you got the job done and we’ll get it back again.”
The horrendously late start time, a result of the PPV slot being first set up for Salt Lake City in Utah, was a contentious talking point on the UFC 304 broadcast itself.
In particular, the commentary team noted how the energy from the crowd had already started escaping the Co-op Arena by the time the main card got underway at 3 AM; albeit the atmosphere was revived temporarily thanks to outstanding performances from Paddy Pimblett and Tom Aspinall.
Back to Edwards, who is hopeful of getting one more fight in before the end of 2024 – although it wasn’t quite clear whether he was expecting to get an immediate rematch against Muhammad for his next bout.
“I’d like to get one more in this year, so whenever – November or December, I’m ready to go so one more this year – I’m ready to go.”
Unfortunately for Edwards, whilst ‘Rocky’ might be targeting a rematch against Muhammad before the year’s end, UFC CEO Dana White didn’t sound too keen on the idea during the UFC 304 post-fight press conference.
Speaking to reporters, White revealed that the promotion was already discussing what’s next for the newly crowned welterweight champion and that Edwards should instead take some well-deserved time away to rest and recover.
“I know Belal’s been training with Khabib, so the performance was, you know, what you’d expect… Yeah, let him [Edwards] rest but we’re talking about other things right now [for welterweight].”
Yet there are those within the MMA community who still believe that Edwards could indeed get the chance to earn the title back in short order, including Cormier himself.
When asked by Jon Anik via the ESPN MMA YouTube channel whether Edwards deserved another title rematch, DC argued that there aren’t many other better options available.
“That’s what I’m thinking, if there’s a guy that could deserve an immediate rematch it’s Leon Edwards… He won the belt, defended it twice, I don’t know who else would fit right now.”
We’ll have to wait and see what direction the UFC goes with the 170lb title; with the consensus opinion being that the next title fight will be Muhammad against either Edwards, Rakhmonov, or Garry.
You never know, maybe they’ll even push lightweight champion Islam Makhachev into a spot where he can earn champ-champ status much sooner than anticipated, with the Dagestani wrecking ball having been vocal about his desire to win a second belt, regardless of who is holding that title.