Leon Edwards’ Swipe at Belal Muhammad Ahead of UFC 304 Backfires

Highlights

Leon Edwards’ comments went viral and backfired at the UFC 304 press conference in Manchester.
The welterweight champion is scheduled to defend his title for a third time against Belal Muhammad this weekend.
‘Rocky’ comes into the contest off the back of a unanimous decision victory over Colby Covington in December.

Leon Edwards’ brutal swipe at Belal Muhammad at the UFC 304 press conference has gone viral. That said, his comments last night made him look a little silly.

‘Rocky’ is scheduled to defend his UFC welterweight title for the third time this weekend in Manchester against the dangerous contender in Muhammad.

The Brit comes into the contest off the back of a unanimous decision victory against Colby Covington back in December. As for Muhammad, the challenger secured the biggest win of his career in his last outing, beating Gilbert Burns via unanimous decision at UFC 288 in May 2023.

Both Edwards and Muhammad are familiar with each other. The pair went head-to-head over three years ago in Las Vegas. The bout went down as a no-contest after an accidental eye poke rendered ‘Remember the Name’ unable to continue.

This week has seen the pair nearly clash in the fighter hotel. The two rivals ended up inadvertently sharing a lift in the fighter hotel prior to their headline contest – and it made for interesting viewing.

Leon Edwards’ Current Physique Ahead of UFC 304 Belal Muhammad Fight

The welterweight king will be looking to successfully defend his title for a third time this weekend.

His brutal swipe immediately at Muhammad backfired

At a UFC 304 pre-fight news conference on Thursday at the Co-op Live in Manchester, lightweight star Bobby Green pitched Dana White of a bonus increase – which has become a popular question at recent major press conferences.

“Uncle Dana, let’s spice it up a little bit. Can we get $100 Gs for it?” Green said. “Can we get $100? Can we get $100? Let’s spice it up a little bit.”

After some cheers from the crowd and affirmations from the other fighters on stage, White replied, “Leon (Edwards) says yes” – which sparked further celebrations.

Muhammad shouted in delight: “Let’s go! I’m going to Greece.” The challenger’s comments prompted Edwards to reply: “Belal don’t worry about that, you’re knocking no one out.”

Despite the comments going down well and sparking a cheer from the fans, Edwards’ comments immediately backfired. The champion’s last knockout was in August 2022 when he dethroned Kamaru Usman with a stunning head-kick in the fifth round.

That said, Muhammad’s last knockout came two months later against Sean Brady at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi. The win over Brady ensured a Performance of the Night bonus, while ‘Rocky’ hasn’t received a bonus since his first win over Usman.

Edwards Failed With an Age-Old Trick at the Muhammad Face-Off

It was the second time in one night that made ‘Rocky’ look silly

As both fighters faced off after the press conference, Edwards lunged at Muhammad – which gave the UFC staff a slight scare. The pair went nose-to-nose as security came closer to the stars on red alert in case things became heated.

The challenger attempted to get in Edwards’ head by putting his knuckles up to the champion’s head. The champion was unfazed and then jokingly lunged at his opponent in a bid to make him flinch.

‘Bully’ was ready to go on the sport, but White was the one who flinched as he looked in slight fear that tensions could rise even more.

Muhammad remained still before White and the security team intervened and grabbed hold of the fighters. They then went their separate ways and, thankfully, no further confrontation was able to take place.