Belal Muhammad: ‘Mentally Weak’ Leon Edwards Easiest Matchup in Top Five

Belal Muhammad has vowed to break Leon Edwards in their upcoming clash.

Muhammad (23-3, 1 NC) will challenge Edwards (22-3, 1 NC) for the welterweight title in the main event at UFC 304. The two will run it back on July 27 at the Co-op Live arena in Manchester, England. The two first met atop UFC Fight Night 187 in 2021, resulting in a no contest after an accidental eye poke. Muhammad recently downplayed Edwards as a threat, labeling the champ the easiest matchup in the top five.

While Muhammad prides himself on his pressure-first approach, he believes this alone will not be his primary advantage. “Remember the Name” considers Edwards easy to break and mentally weak, in stark contrast with himself. Muhammad noted that “Rocky” appeared to be completely dejected before pulling off a shock upset in his first title win over Kamaru Usman at UFC 278. Muhammad said on the "Show Me The Money" podcast:

“I don’t think there’s anybody in the world that’s gonna beat me. I don’t think there’s anybody in the world that can be in there with me. And if I’m being honest, I think he is the easiest guy in the top five, stylistically for myself,” Muhammad declared. “Because he is breakable. We’ve seen him in the Usman fight, and my mentality is try to break you…If you see his corners, there’s never advice in the corner like, ‘Oh, hit this jab.’ It’s always, ‘Bro beautiful Leon, come on brother!’ They’re trying to give him motivation because he is weak mentally. And I’m the strongest mentally fighter in the UFC. So, my mentality is to walk in there and break him down. I’m going in there with a different type of anger now because I hate him so much.”

Muhammad and Edwards’ initial 2021 encounter ended in a no contest, serving the only blemish on both of their recent records. Edwards went on to earn a title shot with a win over Nate Diaz and dethroned Usman in a last-round upset. “Rocky” has since defeated his strap via majority decision in a rematch against Usman and then picked up a one-sided decision over Colby Covington.

Meanwhile, Muhammad has since strung together five straight victories, all of whom serve in the top 15 or top 10 of the weight class. While his finish rate sits at 26%, the Roufusport product has prevailed over Demian Maia, Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque and Gilbert Burns in lopsided manners. He also handed then-unbeaten Sean Brady his first career loss, pummeling the Pennsylvanian with a hail of punches to put him away towards the end of the second round.