Belal Muhammad doesn’t like Leon Edwards demanding a title shot after Saturday night.
In the main event of UFC Vegas 21, Muhammad stepped up on short notice to fight Edwards. Early on in the fight, Edwards was having success but in the second round, he poked Muhammad in the eye and the fight was over. It was ruled a no-contest and it was a disappointing result for both men.
After the fight, Edwards spoke to the media and made it clear he wants a title shot next, not rematching Muhammad.
“First obviously would (like to) apologize to Belal Muhammad,” Edwards said after the fight. “I came off a long, long year and a half for me. I prepped so hard. It’s upsetting. I wish him well, wish him a full recovery.
“[I was] going into the fight with the mentality of I wanted to fight for the belt next. So now I’m like what’s next? What do I do now? Is it a rematch? Is it someone else? I feel I deserve a title shot.”
Edwards followed that up saying a rematch against Muhammad doesn’t make sense. He also isn’t interested in running it back.
“I don’t feel I need to fight him again,” Edwards said. “I only fought him because all the other guys turned me down. The writing was on the wall. I was winning the fight clearly. And I don’t feel I need to fight him again. I need to move forward. I’m on an eight-fight win streak. That’s the third-most in the promotion’s history. It’s me, [Kamaru] Usman, and GSP. I feel like I’ve earned my way for a big fight.”
When Belal Muhammad saw the fact Edwards called for a title shot of a no-contest, the fan-favorite blasted the Englishman.
Never saw someone act so tough after poking someone in the eye the fight was just getting goin and if your satisfied to end it on that note your soft you ain’t getting a title fight off that I took the fight on 3 week notice and came to fight run it back @ufc
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) March 14, 2021
“Never saw someone act so tough after poking someone in the eye. The fight was just getting going and if you’re satisfied to end it on that note, you’re soft. You ain’t getting a title fight off that. I took the fight on 3-week notice and came to fight, run it back,” Muhammad tweeted.
As of right now, it is uncertain if the UFC will run the fight back between Belal Muhammad and Leon Edwards. However, that is something Muhammad wants due to the way it ended.
