Robert Whittaker predicts Belal Muhammad will struggle against Leon Edwards at UFC 304
07/25/2024 08:50 AM
Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker believes Belal Muhammad will have a lot of struggles against Leon Edwards at UFC 304.
Muhammad is set to challenge for the welterweight title in the main event of UFC 304 against Edwards. It’s an intriguing matchup and heading into the fight, Muhammad has oozed with confidence that he will be able to dominate the Brit to win the title.
However, Whittaker thinks Edwards will be too good for Muhammad and should cruise to a win, as he expects the champ to pick apart Muhammad.
“I can see like two possibilities," Whittaker said on his MMArcade Podcast (via MMANews). "The first one, Leon Edwards, just being too good. I think the caliber of fights Leon Edwards has had is different from Belal Muhammad's. Fighting Usman twice is huge, especially when he fought him the first time; that was good. Fighting Colby, like Colby, is a nightmare for everyone, and he was just able to shut him down so well with spectacular spacing. It's very hard to find a hole, especially, you know, if we compare it to when he fought Nate Diaz, right? And we saw that hole get exposed in the later round or fights before that."
“I feel like he's tightened up to a whole new degree, further than he was then, and especially in that last fight, I was so super impressed with just how clean he was. There wasn't really anything to pick apart; there weren't any holes or glaring weaknesses to exploit for Colby."
Robert Whittaker believes Belal Muhammad will struggle to push the pace
A key part of Belal Muhammad’s game is his cardio and his ability to push the pace. However, against Leon Edwards, Robert Whittaker thinks Muhammad will struggle to push the pace against Edwards.
"I find that sort of fight going to be hard for Belal Muhammad, who, you know, is not spectacular in any one field. He's kind of just really high level at all of them, in my opinion. He's amazing at everything, but I feel like his greatest strength is that he's well-rounded. He can take the fight in any direction to get the win. But I think he's going to have trouble trying to push that sort of game plan on Leon Edwards,” Whittaker said.
With Whittaker thinking Muhammad will struggle to push the pace, he believes that will lead to Edwards getting the win to remain the welterweight champ.
