Leon Edwards shocked the world when he snatched the welterweight gold from Kamaru Usman, despite the latter’s elite wrestling skills. Since then, the Brit has gone on to defend his belt twice, with a third defense on the horizon. Ahead of Edwards’ fight against Belal Muhammad, Michael Bisping pointed out a huge advantage the 32-year-old will have over ‘Remember the Name.’
In a video on his YouTube channel, Bisping broke down the upcoming UFC 304 fight card. He addressed Edwards’ victory over Usman and Colby Covington, both of whom are impressive wrestlers, before insisting that the Brit has been training for such a bout for the last two years.
Bisping even insisted that Edwards will have a massive advantage if he does not allow Muhammad to take the fight to the ground, as he said,
“The problem is that Leon Edwards is so well versed in all of these areas. When you look at Leon Edwards, you have got to remember, he has been training for this exact specific type of fight for the last two years. Last time out, Colby Covington, what is he going to do? Take him down. Kamaru Usman before that, he wants to take him down before that Kamaru again. Belal has improved but he has got to get it to the ground as simple as that.”
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‘The Count’ believes that the repetition over the last two years has significantly improved Edwards’ wrestling. Therefore, he will be prepared for what Muhammad has in store for him.
However, it is important to note that Bisping also admitted to how Edwards was rag-dolled in his first fight against Usman and did not display any takedown defense whatsoever. Since Muhammad’s wrestling is on par with Usman, it will be interesting to see how this one plays out.
Muhammad claims fans are underestimating him against Edwards
Although Muhammad’s previous fight against Edwards was declared a no-contest after round 2, it made his weaknesses pretty apparent. In fact, Edwards dominated for most of the fight, and might even have walked away with the victory.
However, since then, Bilal has improved significantly, and he keeps insisting on this in most of his recent interviews. While the American believes most fans are underestimating his skills, he also claimed that Edwards has been rather stagnant in his development as a fighter.
According to Muhammad, most of his improvement has been in the striking department which was on display against the likes of Sean Brady and Gilbert Burns. The title challenger also feels he is levels above Edwards when it comes to wrestling and is confident about getting the job done on Saturday night.
