UFC welterweight Belal Muhammad says rival Leon Edwards “played it a little bit safe” against Nate Diaz and once again asked for the rematch.
Muhammad and Edwards fought back in March to a No Contest after Edwards accidentally poked Muhammad in the eye early in the second round, rendering him unable to continue. As the Muhammad vs. Edwards fight was a replacement bout in its own right, the UFC decided not to match these two up again despite the inconclusive way the fight ended. Instead, the UFC booked Muhammad against Demian Maia at UFC 263 and Edwards against Nate Diaz on the same card, and both men would go onto win their fights that night.
While Edwards is unbeaten over his last 10 fights and is hoping to earn a title shot against UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, that’s no sure thing given that Colby Covington is supposed to be next in line for the champ. Speaking to TMZ Sports, Muhammad explained why he wants the UFC to run back this fight with Edwards again.
“I mean the only name you didn’t say who doesn’t have a fight is Leon. Honestly, for me, it makes the most sense out of any of those fights for both of us if you really think about it. He’s talking about how he’s going to sit out for a title fight but you don’t know what’s going to happen. If Colby and Usman fight, Usman’s still in Nigeria, so you don’t even know when they’re going to book that fight. How much longer are you going to sit out?” Muhammad said.
“You saw in the Nate Diaz fight, the dude almost got knocked out in the fifth round. For a guy like that, you had a chance right there to earn your title shot against Nate Diaz and steal his fans, but you blew it because you played it a little bit safe. You didn’t go for the finish. If you went out there like (Jorge) Masvidal against Nate Diaz where he basically dominated him and got the title fight off of that. But he really went out there, played it a little bit safe, tried to outpoint his way to a victory, then almost got knocked out.”
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