Muhammad beats Edwards to win UFC welterweight title
Belal Muhammad defeated Leon Edwards via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) to capture the UFC welterweight title in the UFC 304 main event Saturday night at Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
With the victory, Muhammad ended Edwards' 13-fight unbeaten streak that dated back to 2016.
Muhammad relied on a wrestling-heavy approach to seize the 170-pound throne in enemy territory. He converted nine of 13 takedown attempts and outlanded Edwards 68-47 in significant strikes. Edwards trains out of nearby Birmingham, England, while Muhammad fights out of Chicago.
"(Edwards) said it, right? I'm no Khabib, I'm no GSP, I'm Belal Muhammad. I'm my own man," Muhammad said in his postfight interview. "Now the world knows it and the world sees it, and they gotta start respecting it. I'm a world champion."
Muhammad clearly won the first two rounds, pressuring Edwards and landing punches on the feet to set up takedowns that led to significant periods of ground control. Edwards stormed back in the third with nearly five minutes of control time, but Muhammad continued to dominate in the fourth by taking Edwards' back and holding him there.
It was much of the same in the fifth round. In need of a finish to keep the title, Edwards came out swinging big shots but missed most of his attempts before Muhammad clinched Edwards and got on his back again. With about a minute left, Edwards reversed the position, got on top of Muhammad, and cut him open with heavy elbows, but it wasn't enough to steal the victory on the judges' scorecards.
Edwards said postfight he felt sluggish during the fight and attributed that to UFC 304's late start time.
"My body just felt tired," Edwards said. "From Round 1. All week I've been feeling just tired from the time. But congrats to Belal, he got the job done, and we'll get it back again."
The fight between Muhammad and Edwards was a rematch of a no-contest in a non-title bout in March 2021.
Muhammad is now riding an 11-fight unbeaten streak. The 36-year-old hasn't lost since a knockout defeat to Geoff Neal in January 2019. Muhammad, who made his UFC debut in 2016 and went 1-2 in his first three appearances, improved to 15-3 (1 NC) in the promotion.
Edwards suffered his first defeat since facing Kamaru Usman in 2015. The 32-year-old captured the welterweight belt with a come-from-behind knockout win over Usman in 2022 and retained the title twice with decisions against Usman and Colby Covington.
"I'd like to get one more (fight) this year," Edwards said. "Whenever - November, December. I'm ready to go."