Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

‘My Reactions Were Slow’ – Leon Edwards Reflects on His UFC 304 Loss Against Belal Muhammad

Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Leon Edwards is set to fight Sean Brady for his next fight and it will be the first time he’s fighting in a non-title fight since June of 2021 where he had defeated Nate Diaz. He captured the welterweight title back in 2022 and went on to have 2 successful title fight defenses against Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington. Everything was clicking for the former champ but the UFC has such talented fighters that nobody (maybe except Jon Jones) can stay at the top for too long, and that is exactly what happened in Edwards’ case.

Edwards’ last fight was against Belal Muhammad back in July of 2024 and he was thorough beaten by the current welterweight champ. Muhammad won the fight via unanimous decision and Edwards was left utterly dumbfounded. Edwards was the favorite to win the fight but Muhammad managed to pull off a huge upset at UFC 304.

Ever since Edwards lost the fight, he’s been vocal about wanting a rematch with Muhammad and even believed that if he wins the fight against Brady on March 22nd, he could have his title shot. However, Muhammad shut down those claims and wants to make the Brit wait for at least three years, just like how Edwards made him wait for a title fight for nearly 3 years. Of course, Edwards may also need to go through the likes of Shavkat Rakhmonov who was supposed to fight Muhammad at UFC 315 for the title but injuries made the “Nomad,” pull out of the fight.

Belal Muhammad says he watched Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Edson Barboza 75 times during fight week.

He says watching this fight helped him get in the right mindset for Leon Edwards.

(via. @remembertheshow) #UFC #MMA #UFC304 pic.twitter.com/h65Uo5mOmR
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) August 1, 2024

Also Read: Tom Aspinall Shocked By “Uneducated Fans” Take On UFC 313 Main Event!

Recently, Edwards reflected on his loss against Muhammad at UFC 304 and here is what he had to say.

Edwards Says That He Wasn’t Himself at UFC 304

In the Ariel Helwani show, Edwards discussed about his loss against Belal Muhammad at UFC 304. When Helwani asked how much of his loss was because of the timing of the fight, Edwards replied “A lot.” He continued “I just feel like my reaction was slow. I could think in my head what I wanted to do, what I trained to do but for some reason my body and my mind just wasn’t in sync, as it is normally, in normal fights… I walked out at like 5 A.M… It is what it is. Even though (Muhammad) got the win, it was still a close fight… He won three rounds, I won two rounds. Even on my worst day, I was still in the fight and I was still close.”

Edwards’ head coach Dave Lovell also commented on the loss. He said “It’s a bitter pill to swallow but I take nothing from Belal.” Lovell said on Helwani’s show. “He won. He waited his time like Leon did. So he made the most of it fair play to him but… It’s a bitter pill for me to swallow for the simple fact that how Leon lost it. The lackluster effort for whatever reason. We all know that there was 30-40% of Leon Edwards that night.”

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Now that Edwards has lost the belt, he is certainly looking forward to making a comeback and capturing the belt again. The fight against Brady on March 22nd is a important fight for the former champ to keep his championship hopes alive.

Also Read: UFC Fight Night 254: Edwards vs. Brady – All About The Next UFC Fight Night Event In London!

Belal Muhammad

Leon Edwards

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UFC 304

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