Joining a long and increasing list of reigning UFC champs, Leon Edwards also wants to be a two-division champion. The reigning welterweight champ, in a recent interview, made clear that he wants to move up and fight for the middleweight crown. Interestingly, ‘Rocky’ was also open to a possible clash with lightweight champ Islam Makhachev, who also wants to move up and become a two-division champ. And verbose UFC analyst Chael Sonnen thinks that the stars have lined up perfectly for Edwards to get a shot at the 180-pound title.

Speaking to fans on his YouTube channel about Edwards’ plans to move up, Chael Sonnen felt that the welterweight champ had made an excellent case for it. The former UFC star, interestingly, is among those who are usually strongly opposed to fighters who want to move up and fight in a different division. However, ‘Uncle Chael’ felt that by agreeing to fight Makhachev at 170, Edwards had made an excellent case for moving up, in which even he couldn’t find any flaws.

“If he was to leave and go to middleweight you’re still going to have to talk about, ‘yeah he’s leaving because Islam’s coming up,’ and now you got the perception issue. And I just feel like Leon is covering all of his bases, ‘I am going to fight Belal, I want to fight at middleweight, and I’m not going to call a guy out ‘cuz I don’t care about the guy, I want the achievement of the belt. Oh, by the way, I got a belt that somebody else would like to get, his name’s Islam and I’m willing to do that match too.’ Like I just feel like Leon covered everything,” Sonnen added.

Sonnen pointed out that Edwards, who is scheduled to take on Belal Muhammad at UFC 304 on July 28, had faced and defeated most of the top contenders in his division, which gave him the right to think about a double-champ status. For now, however, Edwards is focused on his rematch with Muhammad, whose world-class wrestling is setting up the UFC 304 main event to be a classic striker vs. grappler matchup.

Their first fight back in 2021 was ruled a no-contest after ‘Rocky’ accidentally eye-poked Muhammad. While ‘Rocky’ does not have much of a ground game, he has already faced and defeated historically great wrestlers like Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman. But the fight may not even go to the ground, even if Muhammad has his way.

Belal Muhammad ready to go toe-to-toe with ‘Rocky’

Belal Muhammad is coming into his UFC 304 title shot with a chip on his shoulder. He is on a ten-fight undefeated streak, is ranked #2 in the division, and has been waiting for a title bout for more than a year. One of the reasons that the UFC is said to be hesitant in giving him the shot is because he is thought to not be very popular among fans.

The reason for his purported lack of popularity is his grappling-heavy fighting style and his penchant for decisions (for instance, only two of his past nine wins have come via finishes). But the 36-year-old is determined to turn this perception around and defeat Leon Edwards, among the finest-ever UFC strikers, on the feet.

“I dominated Gilbert Burns and Sean Brady both on the feet. So I think people are going to be in for a big surprise when they see what I am going to come with this fight,” Belal Muhammad said in a recent appearance on Bruce Buffer’s YouTube channel. What are your predictions for the UFC 304 main event? Let us know in the comments.

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