Kamaru Usman: Belal Muhammad not a 'high-enough degree of a wrestler' to beat Leon Edwards at UFC 304

by Christina S. Brown
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Kamaru Usman picks Leon Edwards to beat Belal Muhammad at UFC 304.

Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) defends his welterweight title in a rematch in opposition to Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) within the July 27 fundamental occasion at Co-op Dwell in Manchester, England.

Usman has misplaced to Edwards twice in championship fights, however each contests had been aggressive. The previous welterweight champion simply doesn’t see Muhammad being able to regulate Edwards on the bottom.

“I might say I like Belal, however I believe Leon (will win),” Usman stated on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Henry Cejudo. “Wrestling shouldn’t be sufficient. The game has modified a lot to the place guys are studying learn how to use the cage to rise up. It’s not even actually wrestling anymore, as a result of should you take a man down up near the cage, they’re going to make use of the cage they usually’re going to get again to the toes.

“Guys are getting actually, actually good at that. … And Belal Muhammad, I don’t really feel, is a excessive sufficient degree of a wrestler to take him all the way down to the middle of the cage and preserve him down there and win the combat there. Belal, his degree is certainly up there now to the place he can change stance. He can combat out of each stances. He mixes it up, and he is aware of learn how to management his tempo. That’s the most important factor. You noticed it within the Burns combat: He is aware of learn how to management his tempo.”

Edwards was in a position to fend off Colby Covington’s wrestling for essentially the most half to notch his second title protection at UFC 296. Though Usman thinks Muhammad manages his tempo higher than Edwards, he doesn’t assume it’ll be sufficient.

“It is a very intriguing combat,” Usman stated. “However Leon simply being the champion, and being assured in being the champion, I believe he’s going to be sharp.”

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