What happened the first time Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad fought?

UFC 304 takes place on Saturday, July 27 live from the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, United Kingdom. This will be the UFC's fifth event in Manchester, with the last in October 2016. The UFC 304 event will feature 14 fights, including two title matches.

The co-main event will see Tom Aspinall go up against Curtis Blaydes, with the former defending the interim heavyweight title. The main event will be for the welterweight title and, much like the penultimate fight, it will be a rematch. Leon Edwards will be walking in as the champion with the no. 2-ranked Belal Muhammad serving as the challenger.

Edwards and Muhammad had their first meeting on March 13, 2021. This was the Vegas 21, and it took place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada. The pair headlined the card and, at the time, none of them had gold.

Edwards' original opponent for the Vegas 21 event was Khamzat Chimaev, and that fight was supposed to serve as the main event. The match-up between Edwards and Chimaev had been previously scheduled and cancelled on two other occasions due to COVID-19, and this was the third instance where this happened. At time of writing, the fight between Edwards and Chimaev still has not taken place. Muhammad, who had fought (and won) against Diego Lima just one month prior to the Vegas 21 event, accepted the fight on three weeks notice and stepped in as the replacement.

Heading into the fight, both Edwards and Muhammad had 18 wins and 3 losses on their records. Edwards was riding an eight-fight winning streak between 2016 and 2019. Muhammad, on the other hand, was on a five-fight winning streak running from 2019 until 2021. Their respective momentum could be derailed, and their respective bids for a title opportunity could be affected by that fight.

Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad I

The first fight between Edwards and Muhammad saw the former use a more aggressive fighting style than usual. As opposed to his usual defensive fighting, Edwards consistently remained on the offensive. On the stats sheets, Edwards managed to out-strike Muhammad. All three judges scored the first round 10-9 in favor of Edwards.

When the fight went to the second round, Edwards employed the same aggressive style but, this time, it led to the end of the fight - just not in the way that would have been favorable. An accidental eye poke from Edwards just 18 seconds into the second round left Muhammad unable to continue with the fight. This led to referee Herb Dean waving off the fight and, with the fight having had five rounds to reach its completion, the fight was ruled a no contest. This remains the only no contest on both Edwards and Muhammad's records.

Since then, Edwards has gone undefeated in his next four fights. This included Nate Diaz, capturing the welterweight title from Kamaru Usman, then defending the gold against Usman and Colby Covington. Muhammad, on the other side, has built up a five-fight winning streak and now finds himself the no. 2-ranked welterweight in the promotion. His five recent victories came over the likes of Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque, and Gilbert Burns.

Edwards and Muhammad are set to run it back at UFC 304. This time, Edwards has settled into his over 700-day reign as the welterweight champion. But Muhammad finally gets the title shot that he has been yearning for, and he looks to make the most of it. The stakes are higher than ever, and they look to redo their match live from the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, United Kingdom.