Gilbert Burns wasn’t amazed that Belal Muhammad beat Leon Edwards to end up being the welterweight champ.
Burns battled Muhammad back at UFC 288 in May of 2023 in a No. 1 competitor bout. The Brazilian wound up losing by choice, and after the battle, Muhammad claimed over a year to get the title shot versus Leon Edwards at UFC 304.
Eventually, it was Belal Muhammad who managed the upset as he scored a precise choice win over Leon Edwards to end up being the brand-new champ. Some were shocked Muhammad won, Burns stated he wasn’t as he understood Muhammad was a bad match.
“I type of saw that coming,” Gilbert Burns informed MMA Fighting.”Especially (since) Leon is an excellent fighter, however whenever he was stating, ‘I’m going to knock this guy out’– brother, it’s tough to knock Belal out. The guy has a chin. Leon Edwards in the last, I do not understand, 10 battles, he has perhaps one knockout versus Kamaru (Usman). Besides that, he does not knock individuals out.
“On strategy, striking-wise, Leon Edwards is really, great. Putting whatever together with the rate, with the volume, remaining in your face with takedowns, unclean boxing. Particularly doing the camp with Islam (Makhachev) and Khabib (Nurmagomedov), I type of felt that was the course for Belal to win– and he did precisely what he needed to,” Burns included.
Gilbert Burns figured Belal Muhammad would over overwhelm Leon Edwards
In the battle, Belal Muhammad pressed the rate to weaken Leon Edwards. The was the strategy that Gilbert Burns believed Muhammad would utilize to get the win.
“He had a long layoff getting ready for this battle. I believe he was feeding off the (truth that) UFC made him wait, Leon made him wait. He was fed up with that, he was really starving, he worked incredibly tough. You saw he remained in fantastic shape. I simply believed Leon would do a bit much better task protecting. I still (anticipated to see) Belal frustrating him with work. Belal looked excellent in ending up being champ. Individuals can not reject him any longer,” Gilbert Burns stated.
With Belal Muhammad getting the win, it’s most likely that Shavkat Rakhmonov will get the next title shot. When It Comes To Gilbert Burns, he’s set to heading UFC Vegas 97 on Saturday versus Sean Brady.