Belal Muhammad has spent his whole UFC run being the guy the company didn’t want to sell. Kevin Iole’s piece for Yahoo Sports this week on Farid Basharat put it bluntly, writing that the UFC “eventually, reluctantly caved in” on Muhammad’s title shot once his case got impossible to ignore. So when Muhammad logs onto X at 1 a.m. GMT on a Saturday and starts clowning Leon Edwards, I’m not rolling my eyes. I’m applauding. This is a grinder who finally figured out that being loud is part of the job, and Edwards would be smart to pick up the phone and play along.
The post itself is four lines of pure playground energy:
“My wrestling better than Leon’s”
View post on X
“My cornering better than Leon’s”
“My fighter’s better than Leon’s”
“Even my bald patch is better than Leon’s 🤣”
It came with an attached link, and MMA Sucka ran it under a headline saying the rivalry “rages on.” Fair enough. Muhammad didn’t name the fighter he’s bragging about cornering in the text of the post, so I won’t guess. But the structure is a classic roast build. Start with something that sounds like a real fight argument, escalate, then end on a joke at your own expense so nobody can call you a sore winner. The bald patch line is the best part because it’s self-deprecating and petty at the same time. That’s hard to pull off. Most fighters who try social media trash talk sound like a hostage reading a statement.
The wrestling line is a bold choice
I do have to flag the first bar, because it’s carrying some risk. Muhammad has been one of the UFC names stepping onto the Real American Freestyle mats, and according to Bloody Elbow, the last time we saw him there, Colby Covington beat him by tech fall in a defense of Covington’s crossover title. Talking up your wrestling a couple months after Colby tech-falled you is the MMA equivalent of posting your bench press the day after somebody filmed you getting stapled. Edwards has a free counterpunch sitting right there if he wants it.
That’s fine, though. Muhammad’s whole style is betting on the stuff he can grind out over 25 minutes, and he’s earned the right to believe in his wrestling against strikers. Covington is a different animal on a mat with no gloves and no octagon fence. The tweet still lands, and the fact that it leaves Edwards an opening is part of why it’s good content. Beef needs two sides.
Why this matters more than a meme
Look at what happened to Basharat. The guy was 7-0 in the UFC, 16-0 overall and sitting inside the bantamweight top 10, per Bloody Elbow, and the UFC didn’t re-sign him after UFC 329 in July. Six of those seven wins went to the scorecards. Yahoo’s argument was that in the Paramount+ era, being a quiet winner is about the worst thing you can be on that roster. Muhammad, for what it’s worth, dropped a heart in the comments of Basharat’s Instagram post about his exit. He knows that story because he lived the early version of it.
So a Belal who trolls is a Belal who survives. I’ll take this version over the one who waits politely for Dana White to notice him.
And the timing works for Edwards too, whether he likes the jokes or not. Bloody Elbow reported that Ian Machado Garry, the No. 2 welterweight, is stuck looking down the rankings for an opponent with Michael Morales apparently headed toward Shavkat Rakhmonov. White told Paramount about that one, “Could be. Could be,” with a smirk, which is about as close to a confirmation as Dana gets without a graphic. The outlet listed Jack Della Maddalena and Edwards as the only other unbooked fighters in the top 10. Edwards has an empty calendar at the exact moment his old rival is keeping his name in everybody’s feed for free.
If I’m Edwards, I don’t ignore this. I answer, I bring up the Covington tech fall, I make a crack about the cornering, and I use the attention to put myself in the conversation for whatever comes next at 170. A fighter sitting unbooked can’t afford to look like he’s above the noise. Muhammad just handed him a microphone.
Muhammad’s RAF buddies stay busy in the meantime. Arman Tsarukyan headlines against Dillon Danis in Las Vegas on October 23, and Covington takes on Danis in a submission match in Rome on November 3. Belal has proven he’ll show up on the mats and in the replies. Leon, the bald patch line is sitting right there. Answer it.
