Belal Muhammad wins welterweight title at UFC 304
A new UFC welterweight champion has been crowned.
Belal Muhammad defeated Leon Edwards by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) to win the UFC welterweight title for the first time at UFC 304 in Manchester, England. Muhammad dominated the first rounds of the match and while Edwards made a comeback towards the latter half of the fight, he did not do enough for the judges.
Edwards had been champion for 707 days, defeating Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 back on August 20, 2022. Prior to Saturday he hadn’t lost a fight since 2015. He previously fought Muhammad back on March 13, 2021 which ended in a no contest after an eye poke rendered Muhammad unable to continue.
The main event was one of two title matches that took place on Saturday. In the co-main event, Tom Aspinall quickly defeated Curtis Blaydes by knockout one minute into the match to retain the interim UFC heavyweight title. Rising star Paddy Pimblett also fought on the card, defeating Bobby Green by technical submission in the first round.