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Does Belal Muhammad Deserve a Rematch With Leon Edwards?
The UFC Fight Night main event between Leon Edwards vs Belal Muhammad ended in a tragic no contest in round 2 (0:18secs) because of an unintentional eye poke by Edwards, which left the 32-year-old fighter crying in pain and agony. After the fight a question has floated in the MMA community- does Belal Muhammad deserve a rematch with Leon Edwards?
MMA media asked this question in the post-fight press conference to Edwards replied, “No I don’t feel I need to fight him again, I fought him because all the other guys turned me down”.
He also highlighted the fact that he was enjoying an eight-fight win streak. Hence, he feels like he has earned his way for a big fight.
Edwards believes he was winning the fight and has no interest in fighting Muhammad in a rematch as he wants to become the welterweight champion. Fighting the thirteenth ranked fighter in the division may not pay dividends to him as he is ranked third.
Moreover, ‘Rocky’ picked the fight only because he wished to stay active after four bookings (one against Tyron Woodley, three against Khamzat Chimaev) fell through.
However, his opponent believes that they need to run it back.
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Belal Muhammad wants to run it back against Leon Edwards
Following the events at the UFC Apex, Muhammad tweeted about his condition and informed the fans that he had suffered no permanent damage in the eyes. He also felt sorry for the fans and wanted the UFC to run it back.
My heart is shattered my first main event ended like that but Gods the best of planners im sorry to the fans and the @ufc you deserved a full fight.. Alhamdillah the vision is coming back and no permanent damage to the eye I’ll be back and want to run it back @Leon_edwardsmma pic.twitter.com/5xsvhmZ5Uh
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) March 14, 2021
Getting an immediate rematch will be tough for ‘Remember the Name’ unless there is a huge buzz created by the fans and the media. The UFC may not see the value in the same and Edwards will eye contenders closer to his ranking as they initially refused to fight him given the short notice booking of the March 13 bout.
After the unexpected no contest, it will be hard for ‘Rocky’ to get an immediate title shot. Hence, he too will need to win once more to secure nine wins in a row and leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that he deserves to be the next challenger. To do this, he will look to fight a higher-ranked opponent which would leave ‘Remember The Name’ high and dry.
Do you feel Edwards and the UFC owe Muhammad a rematch?
The post Does Belal Muhammad Deserve a Rematch With Leon Edwards? appeared first on EssentiallySports.
