Leon Edwards kissed goodbye to his welterweight title at UFC 304 in Manchester after Belal Muhammad put on a five-round wrestling clinic.
Jamaican-born Brit Edwards was looking to defend his UFC welterweight title for the third time against long-time rival Muhammad at the Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester. The rivals came a little too close to comfort in an awkward elevator encounter earlier in the week, which saw the two fighters stand inches from each other while trading insults.
More than just a championship on the line for Edwards, the Birmingham-based scrapper also risked waving goodbye to a stellar 13-fight unbeaten streak, including a match against Muhammad back in 2021 which ultimately ended in a no contest due to a horrific second-round eye poke. 36-year-old Belal, meanwhile, was enjoying a prestigious ten-fight unbeaten streak of his own - beating the likes of Gilbert Burns, Vicente Luque and Stephen Thompson on his way to a title shot.
There was no glove touch before the first round got underway, with bitter rivals happy to skip the formalities and get right to it. Muhammad wasted no time whatsoever in closing the distance and taking Edwards to the mat, unsurprising given his high-level of wrestling - but failed to keep the champ grounded, with the two stood up again moments later.
Edwards landed some decent knees to the body against the cage, before a flush left uppercut connected on Muhammad's chin. Belal would land a left uppercut of his own, before landing another takedown and seeing the round out on top. The challenger came forward with an overhand right into a takedown but Leon read it well - although Muhammad would secure a slam moments later, dropping Edwards on his head before transitioning to the champion's back.
The pair were up and down like a yo-yo for the rest of the round, with Muhammad constantly looking to take Edwards' back, preventing any damage to himself. And while Edwards would get a takedown of his own late into the round, space was tight against the cage for the champ to do anything substantial. Coaches would tell Edwards to "liven up" during the rest period, surely two rounds down at the time.
Muhammad momentarily showed improvements in his striking game before taking the fight back to the ground - however, he was swept in the process, with Edwards ending up on his back with both hooks sunk in. Leon would keep his forearm firmly across the face of Muhammad, consistently threatening a rear-naked choke, but Belal was able to fight the hands and keep his chin tucked until the round came to a close.
The first of the two championship rounds would see Edwards try his luck with the patented head kick which won him the title back in 2022 - but Muhammad was wise to it, getting his arms up high and soaking the brunt of the damage. Belal would once again find Leon's back early on, securing a body lock and making his opponent carry all of his weight while pestering him with strikes up high. Edwards would eventually manage to reverse position to end up on top at the end of the round, but it looked another comfortable and controlled round from Muhammad.
The champ's corner knew that a finish was needed to retain welterweight gold, screaming at their fighter to put everything on the line for glory - but it would never come. While Edwards was able to stuff the first takedown attempt of the round, Muhammad would soon secure his ninth grounding of the fight, before making his way into the oh so familiar position that he had found success with in prior rounds.
Edwards would offer a glimmer of hope in the last 30 seconds or so, reversing the position once again before busting Belal open with a couple of vicious elbows. But it simply wasn't enough for the Birmingham scrapper to keep a hold of his title. After five rounds, the fight went to the judges' scorecards, Muhammad favoured with scores of 48-47, 48-47, and 49-46.
Speaking after being announced as "and new" by Bruce Buffer, Muhammad said of his victory: "I've got the best team in the world, I tell you guys that. We study to the core - we get better with every single fight." On his opponent, he added: "He said it; I'm no Khabib, I'm no GSP, I'm Belal Muhammed. I'm my own man - and now the world knows it and the world sees it, they've got to start respecting it. I'm a world champion."
Elsewhere on the card, Sunderland-born striker Mick Parkin bagged the first knockout of the night, sitting Lukasz Brzeski with a stiff right hand in the very first round to bag the first finish of his UFC career thus far, after previously beating Jamal Pogues, Caio Machado and Mohammed Usman on points.
The UK winning streak continued in the very next fight, when Sam Patterson sunk in a first-round head and arm choke over Irishman Kiefer Crosbie, before Oban Elliott would beat Preston Parsons via unanimous decision, Muhammad Mokaev silenced Manel Kape in similar fashion, and Jake Hadley also took Caolan Loughran to the judges' scorecards.
Molly McCann would be outclassed by Bruna Brasil over three rounds to miss out on a second win since transitioning to strawweight, but Nathaniel Wood would give the English fans something to cheer for with a convincing UD win over Daniel Pineda. Arnold Allen got team UK back on good form with a 29-28 win over Giga Chikadze, but Gregory Rodrigues would derail any momentum build with a unanimous decision win over Christian Leroy Duncan.
Paddy Pimblett would remain undefeated in the UFC after securing a first-round triangle choke over King Green, before Tom Aspinall would take just one minute to defend his interim heavyweight championship against old rival Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event.
TNT Sports gives you access to games across the Premier League, Champions League, Europa League, Serie A and many more. You can also watch the biggest clashes in boxing, UFC, WWE and the get exclusive action from MLB all for one payment every month. You can watch TNT Sports through BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.