UFC 304: Remember Belal Muhammad’s name after title fight win over Leon Edwards | News, results, highlights, stats and rumors

In the end, Belal Muhammad did exactly what he said he would do at UFC 304.

The Palestinian-American middleweight returned to action in the main event of Saturday’s card in Manchester, England — which began at 3 a.m. local time — challenging British champion Leon Edwards for the UFC welterweight title on enemy soil.

Going into the fight, Muhammad was infinitely confident. Over and over, he told us how he would beat Edwards, even revealing specific details of your game planbut almost no one took him seriously. The Chicago welterweight, who had won 10 fights in a row before his trip to Manchester, entered as a huge underdog with the confidence only of his team and his most dedicated fans.

All your doubters were wrong. I was wrong.

While Edwards had his moments in the fight, Muhammad controlled nearly all of the 25 minutes allotted, not only succeeding in his wrestling match—as some believed he would—but also striking his opponent in the foot, which few expected.

By the time the five-round fight was over, he had landed 192 of 281 strike attempts, nine of 13 takedown attempts, and used those takedowns to rack up 12:02 of control — a clear recipe for a unanimous decision victory.

When the belt was placed around his waist, all the British crowd could do was boo.

“I see you all teary-eyed right now,” he said, acknowledging that he had ruined the night — or morning — for the fans in attendance.

Muhammad’s victory over Edwards will go down as one of the biggest upsets of 2024 — especially since Edwards seemed to dominate him until their first fight in 2021, which ended with a poke to the eye.

The new champion’s future, however, is unclear.

Having just fought and seemingly suffered minimal injuries, there’s a good chance he’ll have to defend his belt before the end of the year, but it’s hard to say who his opponent will be.

There are countless options.

Edwards, who had defended his title twice before facing Muhammad again, could be in line for a rematch, particularly given the early success he had in the 2021 no-contest.

The former champion, in turn, seems to want the chance.

“My body was tired,” he said after the early morning loss, outlining plans to fight again before the end of the year. “We will get it back together again.”

However, Muhammad vs. Edwards III is more likely to defend his welterweight title against one of the many dangerous contenders near the top of the division: Kazakh Shavkat Rakhmonov, Irishman Ian Garry and Australian Jack Della Maddalena.

All of these men have a fair chance of beating the new champion — and most would likely enter the Octagon with him as the betting favorite. Rakhmonov and Garry are both undefeated at 19-0 and 12-0 each. Della Maddalena has lost twice but has won 17 in a row, including a recent stoppage of former title challenger Gilbert Burns.

With such fierce competition at the top of the welterweight division, the title could change hands frequently over the next year or two, but Muhammad is confident in his reign.

“I’m not Khabib (Nurmagomedov), I’m not GSP (Georges St-Pierre),” he said after his title win, comparing himself to other MMA greats. “I’m my own man. Now the world knows that and the world sees that.”

It’s still unclear who Muhammad will fight next and how long he’ll hold the belt, but one thing is for sure: we all need to pick up our forks, put our napkins on our laps, and eat our own meat.

Almost no one believed that Muhammad could defeat Edwards, and he not only defeated the champion, but did so decisively, behind enemy lines, at a time of day when almost no one was awake.

His nickname for most of his career was “Remember the Name.” Coupled with his unabashed confidence heading into his first UFC title fight, this nickname made him a laughing stock.

Most people assumed he would be considered a good, but not great, welterweight who would never get his hands on a UFC belt.

After UFC 304, we will all remember his name.