The welterweight title will be on the line in the UFC 304 main event on July 27.  Second-ranked contender Belal Muhammad takes on titleholder Leon Edwards at Co-op Arena in Manchester, England and thinks the champion has a ‘weak mentality.’  

“I think, when you look at stylistically the reasons why they thought Colby [Covington] would be a bad matchup for him, it was cardio, it was pressure, it was take him down, keeping volume in his face and I do all those better than Colby.  I do those better than [Kamaru] Usman,” Muhammad told MMAFighting.  “Usman, in that third fight, he wasn’t the same Usman.  People can say whatever they want.  I think he came back too soon after that head kick.  The second fight it was volume, pressure and it was breaking Leon.    

“Leon is easily broken.  I think that’s when you see in between rounds his coaches, his team, they’re not giving him advice.  They’re not telling him, ‘Stay on the outside jab.  No.  They’re like, ‘You’re looking beautiful Leon.  You’re a beast Leon.  Don’t let him bully you.’  They have to give him those words, those motivational speeches because he’s got weak mentality.  He’s not strong enough to go in there and figure it out on his own.”      

The title fight is a rematch.  The two first met in the UFC Fight Night 187 main event in March 2021.  The match ended seconds into the second round after an accidental eye poke rendered Muhammad unable to continue and the bout was ruled a no contest.  This time around, Muhammad plans to ‘make it look easy.’

“I’m the best, MMA fighter, complete MMA fighter there is in this division,” Muhammad said.  “I honestly think it’s going to be one of the easiest matches I’ve ever had.  I think that I’m going to go in there and I’m going to walk through him and I’m going to make it look easy.”          

MMAWeekly.com | UFC and MMA News, Results, Rumors, and Videos