UFC

Odds for UFC welterweight champ Leon Edwards’ next opponent are out, and Shavkat Rakhmonov is a bigger threat than Belal Muhammad, according to opening lines.

BetOnline.ag has set Edwards as a significant favorite in a potential rematch, with a -400 line implying an 80 percent chance of winning to the +300 Muhammad, whose first meeting with “Rocky” ended in a no-contest due to an eye poke from the then-challenger.

A $ 100 bet on Edwards would return $ 25, while the same bet on Muhammad would return $ 300.

A fight with Rakhmonov puts Edwards in a tossup situation, according to the opening odds. Both fighters are set at -110, implying an even chance of winning around 52 percent. A $ 100 bet would return about $ 91 on either fighter.

On records alone, Rakhmonov makes him a standout with an 18-0 record, all but finish. The Kazakh welterweight improved his resume at UFC 296 with a submission of two-time title challenger Stephen Thompson, leading many MMA observers to call for him to jump the line over Muhammad.

Edwards hasn’t made any callouts for his next opponent, though he’s sounded less enthusiastic about a rematch with Muhammad than another foe. UFC CEO Dana White didn’t tip his hand on the next welterweight title fight, but Muhammad did weigh in as a backup for UFC 296, which ended with Edwards’ unanimous decision over Colby Covington in his second title defense.

Covington got the UFC 296 title shot by weighing in as a backup for Edwards’ trilogy fight with ex-champ Kamaru Usman, but there’s no telling whether Muhammad will be getting the same treatment. Muhammad trashed Edwards’ performance in an interview after UFC 296 and called for the title shot.

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The Mixed Martial Arts Hour is back in your life! Below is a rundown of Wednesday’s show, which begins at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. UK time.

1 p.m. ET: All your questions answered in the latest edition of On The Nose.

2 p.m.: WBC super lightweight champ Devin Haney returns to talk his recent win over Regis Prograis.

2:30 p.m.: UFC featherweight Josh Emmett breaks down his thunderous knockout of Bryce Mitchell at UFC 296.

3 p.m. Team Renagade MMA and Leon Edwards coach Dave Lovell talks about their big win at UFC 296.

3:30 p.m.: Chael Sonnen returns to wrap up UFC 296 and the latest MMA news.

4 p.m.: Best bets for The Day of Reckoning boxing event and much more.

For the latest episodes of The MMA Hour, subscribe on Spotify or iTunes.

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What a fight
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Belal Muhammad has shared his thoughts on UFC 296’s main event, and they are not very complimentary towards the challenger or champion.

Now that Leon Edwards has dealt with Colby Covington, No. 2 ranked welterweight Belal Muhammad would like the next title shot, please and thank you.

Muhammad is on a nine-fight win streak and has dominated his past five opponents. There’s no one else with a resume that good at 170 pounds, but for some reason the UFC seems extremely reluctant to book Belal vs. Leon 2. Well, let’s not play dumb: the reason is money.

The promotion doesn’t consider Edwards vs. Muhammad to be a particularly bankable fight, and they’re probably right. In the era of endless brawls and gutter trash talk, who wants to try and sell a simple best vs. best match-up?

Muhammad was on UFC Unfiltered recently to discuss UFC 296, and he made his case for the No. 1 contender’s spot.

“There’s unfinished business there,” he said, referencing a No Contest with Edwards from 2021. “And for me, I’ve beaten five top-10 fighters after that. Four of those were top-5 fighters. And I dominated them. I dominated Gilbert Burns on three weeks notice. I haven’t lost in five years. There’s nobody that should be ahead of me for this title fight.”

“Let me and Leon fight, I’ll give [Shavkat Rakhmonov] the next fight,” he continued. “I’m not gonna be that champion that sits out and calls for Conor McGregor or somebody like that. I want to fight the best fighters in the world. I bled, I sweat, I cried, everything I needed to do to get to this point and I did everything right. So I deserve the shot and I earned the shot, it’s not given to me, there’s no privilege here. I’m on a nine fight win streak. What else do I need to do?”

While Belal said he wasn’t willing to adopt a fake persona and talk trash to promote fights, his unvarnished thoughts on Edwards vs. Covington were pretty critical.

“Honestly, I don’t think it was even ring rust, I just think Colby sucks,” Muhammad said. “Like Colby’s not good. The guys he’s beaten were all on their way out, no disrespect to those guys, but most of them were on three fight, four fight losing streaks. So Colby definitely didn’t earn a spot, and he showed it this time when you’re going against a high level guy in Leon Edwards.”

“He literally looked like an amateur out there. His striking looked terrible, his wrestling didn’t even look good. The only time he was able to get takedowns was in the fourth and fifth rounds when Leon got tired, and that’s always been his issue too. But I knew from the beginning that Colby wasn’t good and I always said that Colby’s the easiest fight in the division. If I was ever able to fight him I’d embarrass him, but he embarrassed himself.”

As for Edwards?

“I wish [Leon] broke his jaw,” he said. “Colby deserved to have his jaw broken or his nose broken or another chipped tooth somewhere in there. To me, honestly, Leon didn’t look great in that fight. I think Colby just sucks. But Leon could have done a lot more in that fight to prove himself and cement himself as a pound-for-pound king.”

Another thing that could help Edwards cement himself as a king? Taking on the toughest contender, even if it’s not the most lucrative match-up.

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Colby Covington couldn’t back up his universally despised comments ahead of UFC 296.

The MMA world has been left with a relatively sour taste in its collective mouth going into 2024. Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena played host to UFC 296 this past Saturday to close out the promotion’s calendar year, as it usually does. This year, welterweight gold took center stage when the aforementioned Covington participated in his third attempt to become an undisputed UFC champion.

After enduring numerous insults in the build-up to the fight, the champion Leon Edwards remained unrattled at the pre-fight press conference until Covington volleyed a shot at his father, who was murdered in their home of England when Edwards was nine. Stating he’d take Edwards to the “seventh layer of hell” with his father on fight night, Covington pushed the boundary too far in the eyes of essentially the entire community along with Edwards and went on to lose a unanimous decision at UFC 296. Longtime head coach of the Serra-Longo fight team in Long Island Ray Longo hasn’t had time for “Chaos” since his unnecessary past threats toward UFC commentator Jon Anik.

“I’ve got absolutely no use for the guy at all. I just don’t,” Longo said on the Anik & Florian Podcast. “Ever since he threatened you (Anik), he knows where you live, he can go f*** himself. Couldn’t give a s*** about that guy. What he did with Leon Edwards I think is atrocious. You know, there’s promoting a fight, then there’s being a total f****** misfit in life, and that’s the way I see it with that guy.”

The loss for Covington drops him to 2-3 in his last five fights as he’s now alternated wins and losses with all losses coming in his undisputed title bids. Covington, 35, entered the octagon on Saturday after a nearly-year layoff that followed a one-sided unanimous decision win over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272 in March 2022.

Despite his time away, Covington was still a fan favorite as he received big cheers from the crowd during his walkout on fight night. Well, that changed by the end of the fight as his typical high-volume aggressive style was nowhere to be seen against Edwards. The talk didn’t cease afterward, however, as Covington stated he believed he should have won and proceeded to target his fellow veteran Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson as his next opponent.

“Colby, you’re sucking the f****** life out of the community,” Longo said. “Like a leech on society, and now you’re attacking this guy. It’s just too much for me. I don’t care for it. And, man, talk about karma, because what a piece of s*** that fight was. I mean, the guy did absolutely nothing and to be able to take a pro-Colby crowd, and by the end of the fight have the crowd against you, good luck, my man.

“I hope it was worth the money, the extra 25 percent or whatever. I hope it was worth it because I can promise you that he will regret a lot of s*** for the rest of your life. I think he cost [Donald] Trump the election. How’s that? ‘Oh, Mr. President, Mr. President is here to watch me. Who do you got? The Queen of England.’ This motherf***** called somebody a dope? I’d love to see this guy’s college transcripts. He’s a f****** moron.”

TOP STORIES

Stale. Matt Brown did with Colby Covington after UFC 296: ‘I think I speak for everyone, we don’t really care if we see him again or not’

Compassion. Alexandre Pantoja ‘very sad’ for beating Brandon Royval at UFC 296: ‘It’s really hard to do that with someone’

Clarity. Aljamain Sterling clears up ‘weird’ ticket mishap that kept him out of UFC 296

Nah. Tyron Woodley calls for Jake Paul rematch in MMA, finds it ‘disrespectful’ he’s not being considered as an opponent

Insight. Gilbert Burns’ wife reacts to Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis UFC 296 brawl

Onward. Alex Pereira not waiting for Israel Adesana trilogy: ‘I gave him the chance’

VIDEO STEW

Sound & Pound.

2023 UFC Year in Review.

Rapid Rounds: Honchak vs. Hashi.

Volk in Vegas.

LISTEN UP

Heck of a Morning. MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck discusses if Colby Covington will be able to bounce back after a forgettable UFC 296 performance.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Zac Pauga (6-2) vs. Bogdan Guskov (14-3); UFC Vegas 86, Feb. 10

Bolaji Oki (8-1) vs. Damir Hadzovic (14-7); UFC Vegas 86, Feb. 10

FINAL THOUGHTS

Time to just give up the character for Covington. Nothing else will be more fascinating at this point. He’s done a real number on himself this time.

Thanks for reading!

EXIT POLL

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @DrakeRiggs_ on Twitter and let him know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.

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Former interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson urged fans and supporters of him earlier this week to “keep the faith” in the immediate aftermath of his one-sided unanimous decision loss to Paddy Pimblett at UFC 296 last weekend, and now insists he will not consider retiring from active competition.

Ferguson, a former interim lightweight champion and divisional stalwart, suffered his seventh consecutive Octagon loss in his main card fight with Pimblett over the course of the weekend, dropped in the opening round en route to a judging loss.

Briefly rallying in the third and final round to push Liverpool native, Pimblett back to the Octagon fence as he struggled with noticeable fatigue, Tony Ferguson succumbed to his seventh consecutive loss – tieing the successive losing streak record in the promotion alongside former two-weight champion, B.J. Penn to boot. 

And reacting to Oxnard veteran, Ferguson’s loss to former Cage Warriors champion, Pimblett at UFC 296, promotional CEO, White urged The Ultimate Fighter victor to consider retiring. 

“I would love to see Tony (Ferguson) retire,” Dana White said after UFC 296. “When you talk about a skid, you look at the guys he fought, too. That plays a factor into it and how did he look right up until he lost? Tony tonight looked like he should retire.”

Tony Ferguson insists he will not retire after UFC 296 loss

“Listen, Tony’s been an absolute warrior and a dog in this sport,” White continued. “I don’t want to disrespect him by publicly talking about him retiring but I would love to see him retire. That’s really where my head’s at.”

And on his official Instagram account today, Ferguson, who turns 40 years old in two months time, claimed he would not call time on his career – echoing calls for fans to “keep the faith”, before emphatically stating “I’m not retiring, casuals”. 

What do you think is next for Tony Ferguson after UFC 296?

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UFC 296 was not a good night for Colby Covington.

“Chaos” talked a whole lot of trash in the lead up, crossing far beyond lines most athletes wouldn’t touch at all opposite Welterweight champion Leon Edwards. Winning would’ve likely earned Covington a fair bit of forgiveness and goodwill, and even going out on his shield and losing a close battle like the pair of Kamaru Usman contests would’ve saved some face.

Instead, Covington looked rusty, old, and hesitant. He didn’t push the pace or even try particularly hard to win, then he mouthed off in the aftermath. The fighting world is kicking him while he’s down, and to be frank … it feels deserved.

The question now is what’s next? “Chaos” promised a more active schedule and quick return in 2024, and he angled for a fight opposite Stephen Thompson. Rising contender Shavkat Rakhmonov’s name was always mentioned as a possibility. There are options, but UFC analyst Chael Sonnen wonders if this “Rocky” defeat signals the end of Colby Covington’s time as an active UFC fighter.

“I love your suggestion of Rakhmonov. I’m just not sure Dana will even make that suggestion to Colby,” Sonnen said after UFC 296 (via MMAJunkie). “What I worry about is will he take it? I don’t know where his heart is at. To go up that mountain as many times as he did. Colby’s career is a riddle.

“He’s had three world title fights, he was an interim champion, he never lost, he woke up one day, he wasn’t the interim champion. He fought the reigning ‘BMF’ champion, dominated him, and never became ‘BMF’ champion. I think that there’s some real frustrations. I just don’t know if he wants to start over. That’s the hard truth. I don’t know that we see Colby Covington again.”

If Covington does return, it’ll be a long road back to the top.

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