Belal Muhammad seems extremely confident in his ability to beat Leon Edwards. In a recent interview, he spoke about how he would ‘toy’ with him in the octagon and then let him off the hook only to make him suffer in the next round again. Very vivid imagination from Belal but fans just don’t buy it.
One fan gave his own prediction, saying Belal Muhammad’s words would come back to bite him when they make a viral edit out of his prediction after he loses to Edwards,
“This is gonna become part of a tremendous edit when he gets destroyed in a round or 2.”
This is gonna become part of a tremendous edit when he gets destroyed in a round or 2.
— X (@fau1in) May 27, 2024
Another fan called out the title contender for being ‘boring’ in his fights and his interviews,
“Belal’s interviews are almost as boring as his fights”
Belal’s interviews are almost as boring as his fights
— ZTNBlanco (@ZtnBlanco) May 27, 2024
Belal Muhammad couldn’t catch a break, as one fan reminded him of how his first fight against Leon Edwards played out,
“Must have forgotten how the first fight went, sometimes self-confidence is an illusion”
Must have forgotten how the first fight went, sometimes self-confidence is an illusion
— Kem-maka (@May_twenty3rd) May 27, 2024
Muhammad must be doing something wrong because yet another fan called him out for being boring.
“I fell asleep listnening to this”
I fell asleep listnening to this
— Brandon (@ReactivityNHL) May 27, 2024
All criticisms aside, Belal Muhammad’s prediction came from a place of confidence. Meanwhile, a former UFC Welterweight champion also had words of criticism for the Leon Edwards vs. Muhammad fight being set up so late.
Kamaru Usman criticizes Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad for holding up the division
Kamaru Usman was one of the most active welterweight champions of all time. He was at every second or third PPV defending the title. He went through the entire division at least twice doing so. So yes, he isn’t happy that this title fight between these two fighters took this long to make as it holds up the division.
The former champ spoke about the same in a Pound 4 Pound podcast episode.
“[Leon vs Belal] should’ve been announced a long, long time ago. I feel like they’ve kind of just been pretty much holding up the division. Belal won’t fight anyone but Leon”
Kamaru Usman says that Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad have been “holding up the division”:
“[Leon vs Belal] should’ve been announced a long, long time ago. I feel like they’ve kind of just been pretty much holding up the division.
Belal won’t fight anyone but Leon. Leon, I… pic.twitter.com/mnNWq8Opjo
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 18, 2024
According to the former champion, the pair spent too much time waiting for the fight to be announced and did not entertain any other opponents. To be fair to Belal, he was willing to fight for the title the day after he became the #1 contender for it. So the fight taking this long to materialize is not on him.
Regardless, he’s waiting for a year for this fight and hasn’t fought anybody else in that time. Leon, on the other hand, fought Colby Covington, who was a shadow of his former self and was no longer a serious contender in the division.