Belal Muhammad ‘fueled with hatred’ for Leon Edwards over delayed UFC title shot: “I hate his guts!”
Belal Muhammad has plenty of extra motivation to face UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards after their recent social media banter.
Muhammad is expected to be Edwards’ next title challenger after a long win streak in the Octagon. He appeared as the UFC 296 backup fighter to Edwards vs. Colby Covington in December, and a vocal group of fans have called for him to get the title shot.
Muhammad hasn’t fought since a unanimous decision victory against Gilbert Burns at UFC 288. He and Edwards were originally expected to feature at UFC 300, but Muhammad wasn’t included in the three opponents offered to Edwards for the event.
As Muhammad continues to wait for the elusive title shot, the heat is ramping up between him and Edwards. Especially after Edwards’ manager, Tim Simpson, recently discredited Muhammad’s standing in the title picture.
Belal Muhammad ‘hates’ Leon Edwards after recent back-and-forths
In a recent interview with MiddleEasy, Muhammad was asked how he views Edwards as their bad blood worsens.
“I hate his guts,” Muhammad said of Edwards. “The last fighter that I fought that I had dislike for was Sean Brady, and that was just because he was talking all this trash, and one of those things where I’m like ‘Bro, I don’t even know you but you’re acting like you’re something else’. With the Leon fight, they’re trying to avoid me. Him trying to downplay my accomplishments and telling me I don’t deserve it, I never earned it. That does nothing but piss me off…
“It’s fueling me with hatred for this guy and I just can’t wait to get in there and get my hands on him. My last four, five fights, have been against guys that were so nice. Demian Maia, Wonderboy, Luque, they’re all nice guys. Obviously, getting extra motivation to fight guys that you dislike, it’s easier to wake up every day. For Leon Edwards, I’ve been training for this guy for two years. My prime focus has been on him, I haven’t been thinking about anyone but him. When I go in there and walk through him, he’s going to go back to irrelevancy and no one’s going to think about him anymore.”
Edwards and Muhammad could potentially feature at UFC 304 in Manchester later this summer. Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is also expected to be a part of the card.
It takes a lot to make Muhammad audibly upset, and it seems that Edwards’ taunts have struck a nerve. As their expected matchup nears a booking, the pre-fight promotion is starting to move in a dark direction.
