Belal Muhammad is not happy about how Leon Edwards obtained his victory over Colby Covington at UFC 296. As the No. 2-ranked welterweight fighter noted, the champ should have inflicted serious damage to the opponent, especially after the personal trash talk made by “Chaos” prior to their fight.
Edwards defended his belt last Saturday against Covington, who lost the bout via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46). The result was somehow expected, with the challenger barely making any significant move to dominate the bout, especially in the first three rounds. Covington managed to deliver a takedown in the latter part of the fight, but it was not enough to match the beatings he received from Edwards.
Muhammad, who served as the backup of the bout, blasted Covington over the underwhelming performance. Nonetheless, “Remember The Name” thinks the champ also failed to deliver what was expected of him, especially after the personal insults Covington made regarding his murdered father.
“Honestly, it was a joke to the division,” Muhammad said during a UFC 296 post-fight interview. “That’s what happens when you get a bum off the couch [Covington] who’s been out for two years, who didn’t deserve the shot, and he goes out there, and he didn’t back up the talk. For Leon Edwards, you should have backed up your talk, too. For what Colby said, he deserved to have his jaw broken. I thought Leon should have went out there, he should have embarrassed him and put it on him, but he played that little game.”
In line with this, Muhammad tried to establish his right as the next challenger of Edwards, whom he promised to “bully.”
“So I think the UFC knows who’s next,” said the fighter. “I need to get in there. I need to make the welterweight division great again because I’m going to come to fight every single fight. I’m going to be in your face non-stop, 100 percent. There’s not going to be no breathing at all for Leon Edwards.
“I’m going to be in his face. I’m going to make him bleed. I’m going to make him breathe hard. I’m going to make him look to his corner, and his coach is going to repeat that same statement: ‘Don’t let him bully you, son!’ He’s going to say that every single round, and once the fight’s over, he’s [going to say], ‘You let him bully you, son.’ That’s what I’m going to do to him. I’m going to bully him.”
While this sounds like a way for Muhammad to secure the title shot, Edwards’ victory is indeed far from satisfying. At the end of the bout, Covington bragged about not having scratches and even called the bout “the easiest fight” of his life despite losing.
“I feel great. I didn’t feel like I got touched,” Covington said. “It was an easy fight. I don’t have a scratch on me…
“… I didn’t take any damage this fight. This is the easiest fight of my life. I thought I won the fight…”
