By The Numbers: Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad
Leon Edwards detractors can still point to one glaring entry on his resume: a no contest with Belal Muhammad three-plus years ago.
The longtime rivals will finally settle their score when Edwards defends the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight crown against Muhammad in the UFC 304 headliner this Saturday at Co-op Live in Manchester, England. Their first encounter ended with anticlimactic eye poke in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 187 pairing on March 13, 2021, and they have remained at odds with one another ever since. Edwards enters the cage on the strength of a four-fight winning streak. The Team Renegade star last suited up at UFC 296, where he laid claim to a five-round unanimous decision over promotional lightning rod Colby Covington on Dec. 16. Muhammad, meanwhile, has rattled off five consecutive victories. The Roufusport product has not competed since he outpointed Gilbert Burns to a unanimous verdict at UFC 288 in May 2023.
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32: Years of age for Edwards, who was born on Aug. 25, 1991 in Kingston, Jamaica—some 4,600 miles from where he now resides in Birmingham, England.
3: Edwards wins by submission, accounting for 13%
of his career total (22). His methods of choice: two rear-naked
chokes and one arm-triangle choke. Edwards holds seven other wins
by knockout or technical knockout (32%) and 12 more by decision
(55%).
7: Countries in which Edwards has plied his mixed martial arts trade. He has gone 13-1 in England, 4-1 with one no contest in the United States, 2-0 in the Netherlands, 1-0 in Poland, 1-0 in Scotland, 1-0 in Singapore and 0-1 in Brazil.
.822: Cumulative winning percentage between the three men—Kamaru Usman, Claudio Silva and Delroy McDowell—who have defeated Edwards. They boast a combined record of 37-8.
36: Years of age for Muhammad, who was born in Chicago on July 9, 1988. “Coming to America,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “Big,” “License to Drive” and “Arthur 2: On the Rocks” were the Top 5 movies at the domestic box office at the time.
5: Muhammad victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 22% of his career total (23). His list of UFC victims: Sean Brady and Augusto Montano. Muhammad owns one other victory by submission (4%)—he put away Takashi Sato with a rear-naked choke at UFC 242 in 2019—and 17 more by decision (74%).
137: Seconds needed for Muhammad to turn away Justin Brock with punches in his Aug. 18, 2012 debut under the Hoosier Fight Club banner. Nearly 12 years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
79: Rounds started by Muhammad as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on 19 different occasions and carries a 17-2 record in those bouts.
54: Combined wins between the three men—Geoff Neal, Vicente Luque and Alan Jouban—who have beaten Muhammad. They sport a cumulative .699 winning percentage at 54-23-1.
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