Israel Adesanya has his mind all made up for the UFC 304 main event.
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The two men in the marquee fight for Manchester are UFC Welterweight Champion Leon Edwards and streaking title challenger Belal Muhammad, who will finally settle their score in five rounds or less at around 5 a.m. in the morning.
Both Edwards and Muhammad haven’t lost in their last 10 fights, with the only break in their winning streaks being their first fight in 2021 which ended in a No Contest result after Edwards poked Muhammad in the eye.
First look at this weekends main event in gold gloves, and Leon’s custom shorts. #UFC304 pic.twitter.com/ybgTOEKzmI
— DiaztwinsMMA (@DiaztwinsMMA) July 24, 2024
Muhammad’s certainly grown as a fighter since that time but so has Edwards, putting together two title defenses since taking the crown from then-champ Kamaru Usman by headkick-KO at UFC 278.
Edwards is coming off a decision-win over Colby Covington at UFC 296 last December, while Muhammad would have to wait his turn for a title shot after defeating Gilbert Burns at UFC 288 more than a year ago.
“Belal’s got pressure, man. He’s able to get to people and put his will on them. For Leon, just seems like… he’s on a massacre right now. He’s on a run,” Adesanya said of the UFC 304 headliners on his YouTube channel.
While Edwards has finished only one fight in the last six years, stylistically, the two-time middleweight champ Adesanya believes there’s a good chance “Rocky” closes the show in front of his home crowd in Manchester, England.
“I don’t think it’s gonna be much different [than the Covington fight]. Leon might finish him. I think Leon finishes this fight,” Adesanya added. “Trying to think, but I’m trying to see how Belal can win this fight, to get to Leon and wrestling. Leon’s got a good distance, good weapons he uses to make sure you don’t want to get close. If you do get close, doesn’t mean you’re safe, because he can take you down, too.”
“This seems like a bad match for Belal. I don’t want to be like… I’m not hating on Belal or anything.
I just try to see what’s his path to victory. In the striking, Leon’s got it. Grappling, you want to lean towards Belal, but Leon is right up there. It’s Leon’s fight to win. It’s Leon’s fight to lose. Because even when they were fighting the first time, before the eye poke, Leon was touching him up.”
Edwards poured the pressure on Muhammad in their first encounter in 2021, outlanding the Chicago-native in the striking department before he could get anything going in the second round, which came to a halt due to an eye poke.
Adesanya believes more of the same will be present in the rematch, with Edwards staying patient in the process.
“I’m gonna say finish, bro. He’s gonna take his time. He’s not gonna rush in, he’s gonna chill. Leon by knockout in the third round, second or third round,” Adesanya predicted Edwards to win.
It’s been nearly eight years since Belal Muhammad has been finished by an opponent, with his last stoppage-loss coming to Vicente Luque back in 2016 – a defeat “Remember The Name” avenged years later.
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