The two longest unbeaten streaks in the UFC welterweight division will collide at UFC 304 when champion Leon Edwards puts his title on the line against old foe Belal Muhammad.
The fight will be a rematch of a main event bout in March 2021 that ended prematurely with Edwards poking Muhammad in the eye to blind his opponent temporarily. Since their no-contest, Edwards has won four straight including three championship wins while Muhammad has won five consecutive to set himself up for his first title opportunity.
Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad Tale of the Tape
| Leon Edwards | Belal Muhammad | |
| 22-3 (1) | Record | 23-3 (1) |
| 14-2 (1) | UFC Record | 14-3 (1) |
| 32 | Age | 36 |
| 6’2″ | Height | 5’11” |
| 74 inches | Reach | 72 inches |
| Team Renegade MMA | Team | Valle Flow Striking |
| Dave Lovell | Head Coach | Mike Valle |
| W4 | Streak | W5 |
Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad Fight Statistics
View the statistics for each fighter as they appear on UFC Stats ahead of their main event meeting at UFC 304:
| Leon Edwards | Belal Muhammad | |
| 2.75 | Significant Strikes Landed per Minute | 4.55 |
| 53% | Striking Accuracy | 43% |
| 2.34 | Significant Strikes Absorbed per Minute | 3.64 |
| 54% | Striking Defense | 57% |
| 1.25 | Takedown Average | 1.98 |
| 34% | Takedown Accuracy | 35% |
| 75% | Takedown Defense | 93% |
| 0.4 | Submission Average | 0.2 |
| 16:55 | Average Fight Time | 14:19 |
Leon Edwards’ Last Fight
Once Alexander Volkanovski succumbed to the right hand of Ilia Topuria at UFC 298, Edwards became the longest-tenured active champion in the UFC. As the defending champion since shockingly taking the title from Kamaru Usman at UFC 278, Edwards will enter his third title defense off a convincing but lackluster win over Colby Covington at UFC 296.
After a compelling rematch with Usman at UFC 286, Edwards entered the fight with Covington with bad blood after the challenger uncivilly mocked his deceased father. ‘Rocky’ comfortably retained his belt with a five-round decision win but did not gain a single fan with the performance as the two welterweights combined for just 101 significant strikes. For the first time in his title reign, Edwards will fight in his home country with UFC 304 set to be held in Manchester, a two-hour drive from the champion’s resident city of Birmingham.
Belal Muhammad’s Last Fight
Since losing to Geoff Neal in 2019, Muhammad has fought 10 times in the Octagon without a single loss and has fundamentally been the No. 1 contender in the welterweight division for two years. Regardless, the Palestinian was forced to wait his turn as Colby Covington inexplicably received an unwarranted title fight at UFC 296 before Muhammad received his long-awaited rematch with Leon Edwards.
No fight in the welterweight division is an easy one but Muhammad’s most recent victory over Gilbert Burns was particularly impressive given that it was put together on 16 days’ notice at UFC 288. Though both fighters were stepping in on short notice, ‘Remember the Name’ was dealt the tougher hand with Ramadan recently concluded, a period when Muhammad did not consume any food or water during the daylight.
Aside from the no-contest with Edwards at UFC Vegas 21, Muhammad has thoroughly dominated all of his opponents since the loss to Neal and also owns lopsided wins over Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque, Demian Maia, and Sean Brady.
The First Fight at UFC Vegas 21
After a main event win over Rafael dos Anjos in 2019, Leon Edwards struggled to get back into the cage and after nearly two years away was finally scheduled to return against rising star Khamzat Chimaev in March 2021. However, an injury sidelined Chimaev and Belal Muhammad accepted the short-notice matchup to keep Edwards on the card.
Clearly showing frustration from his recent misfortune, Edwards immediately forced the action on Muhammad, a fighting style he is far from being known for. Muhammad weathered the early storm well but took a partially blocked head kick from Edwards in the middle of the round that wobbled him against the fence. Edwards moved in to seek a finish but was unable to end his night early as Muhammad reached the end of the round.
The fight would end shortly after as Edwards reached his hand out to feint a jab in Muhammad’s direction that poked his opponent in the eye, who lost vision and fell to the ground. Edwards’ return would end anticlimactically despite how well it looked early and the eventual champion said in his post-fight interview that he felt worse than if he would have lost the bout.
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