The bad blood between Belal Muhammad and UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards appears to be nearing a boiling point.
Edwards is looking to return to defend his UFC welterweight title, potentially facing Muhammad later this year. He last faced Colby Covington at UFC 296, where he won a unanimous decision.
Muhammad has won nine of his last 10 fights and could make a case to be worthy of being the No. 1 welterweight contender. He hasn't fought since last year's UFC 288 win over Gilbert Burns.
A title fight between Edwards and Muhammad was briefly linked to UFC 300, but that matchup fell through as other matches were desired.
Edwards' manager Tim Simpson shared his thoughts on the Muhammad fight not happening at UFC 300 on Thursday's episode. MMA hour.
“I knew it was going to happen because we asked about it, but there was no discussion about UFC 300,” Simpson said of Edwards vs. Muhammad. “I don't want to stack Belal Muhammad. He seems like a decent enough guy, but that's not a surprise to me. With all due respect, Belal and Leon are probably the kind of marquee fights they want at this event. Probably not.”
Earlier this year, it was reported that Muhammad was not one of the three opponents Edwards accepted for the UFC 300 slot. Shavkat Rakhmonov, Islam Makhachev and Khamzat Chimaev have been revealed as Edwards' targeted opponents.
