Belal Muhammad is one of those athletes where the whole exceeds the sum of his parts.
He's not a guy who has the athleticism of a Georges St-Pierre or the physicality of a Tyron Woodley or the power of a Robbie Lawler or the overall game of a Kamaru Usman. When 2024 dawned, there probably weren't a lot of people expecting UFC CEO Dana White to be wrapping a belt around Muhammad's waist at any point.
But when you put it all together, Muhammad is a formidable foe. And yeah, we'll remember the name now after Muhammad's full game was on display in a unanimous decision over Leon Edwards Saturday in the their welterweight title fight in the main event of UFC 304 at Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester, England in the main event of UFC 304.
Muhammad won by scores of 48-47 twice and 49-46 in lifting the belt from Edwards in front of a partisan home crowd that roared passionately for every move Edwards made. Muhammad was up three rounds to one on all cards after the fourth, and there was precious little drama in the fifth even though everyone in the arena knew Edwards needed a finish to retain his belt.
But Muhammad controlled him for much of the round and outboxed him for a good part of it. Two of the judges gave Edwards the final round when he dropped an elbow on Muhammad in the final minute that caused Muhammad's nose to begin bleeding profusely.
Muhamamd took Edwards down nine times in 13 attempts, and controlled nearly half of the bout. He had 12:02 of control time in the 25-minute bout according to UFC Stats, and considered outstruck Edwards in significant strikes landed. Muhammad was 68 of 121 while Edwards was 47 of 71.
The bout ended a card that didn't have the holy shit moments that White loves so much. At one point, seven fights in a row went to a decision. And when White was asked about Muhammad's win, he wasn't raving or overly impressed.
"It wasn't a barnburner," White said.
Muhammad took much of the drama out of it by pressuring Edwards relentlessly, jabbing his way in and then getting his hands on Edwards. He took Edwards down early in the first round to set a tone for what was to come.
It was a rematch of a 2019 fight that ended in a no-contest when Edwards poked Muhammad in the eye just 18 seconds into the second round. Edwards had won the first round of that fight clearly, and wasn't interested in giving Muhammad a rematch. But Muhammad, who was frustrated by Edwards' decision to look elsewhere, did what he had to do to put himself in a position. After the no-contest, he defeated Demian Maia, Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque, Sean Brady and Gilbert Burns to earn the title shot.
And while Edwards was better than a 2-1 favorite, Muhammad never wavered in his belief. He worked diligently to improve, training frequently with ex-lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, and he quietly kept adding to his game.
He also didn't forget an Edwards' slight.
"He said I'm no Khabib or GSP [Georges St-Pierre]," Muhammad said. "I'm Belal Muhammad. I'm my own man. Now the world knows it and sees it, now they have to respect it. I'm a world champion."