Leon Edwards is not interested in fighting Belal Muhammad again. Yet, for MMA commentator Jon Anik, the bout between the two is an essential step for the champ to attain his plan to become the greatest champ in the division.
After successfully defending his belt against Colby Covington, Edwards is now a target again of callouts. One of the biggest challengers demanding a fight against the champ is Muhammad, who served as his backup opponent at UFC 296. The two first fought in March 2021, but the bout did not continue after Edwards accidentally poked his opponent’s eye. Now, Muhammad wants to end the fight by getting another match with Edwards.
The champ, however, is dismissive of the idea, calling Muhammad “a boring fighter.” The Briton’s coach, Dave Lovell, also shared the same sentiment, expressing a preference for Gilbert Burns over Muhammad. For Lovell, despite the second-round accident in the match, Edwards had already proved he could beat “Remember The Name” due to what the former showed in the first round.
For Anik, however, Muhammad deserves another shot, especially with the fighter’s current rank status and impressive winning streak. More importantly, the UFC commentator is certain that it will help Edwards cement his position as the welterweight king and, hopefully, the GOAT of the division someday.
“It’s not Leon Edwards’ job as undisputed UFC welterweight champion to lay the foundation for his next title defense,” told Bodog Canada. “Certainly if his aspiration is to go down as the greatest welterweight champion of all time – and by the way that is well within reach when you just beat Kamaru Usman twice and then Colby Covington. If that’s the goal, he should want to take out and beat all of these guys.
“I think you need to marry the financial goals with the career-aspirational goals. I mean, he’s a Hall of Famer first ballot, but to go down potentially as the greatest welterweight of all time, if Belal Muhammad is indeed easy work, I think that fight makes a lot of sense.”
Anik’s comment came after earlier reports about Edwards’ plan to beat Georges St-Pierre’s record and pursue other division belts. However, “Rocky” clarified that the latter is “not an immediate goal” and admitted that he has “to stick around welterweight” if he wants to achieve the former. Yet, in the future, the British fighter intends to try the middleweight, where Khamzat Chimaev, who Anik also thinks is a good match for Edwards, is currently fighting.
“I feel like I’m in the prime of my career, prime of my life,” Edwards said. “I’m 12 fights in a row now, I haven’t lost in eight years, almost nine years. I’m going for a second title defense. I’m only 32 years old. So I feel like that’s definitely doable.”
