- Belal Muhammad is not convinced Colby Covington is the best matchup for Leon Edwards but the UFC has been biased
- “Remember The Name” doesn’t see “Rocky” talking trash with “Chaos” ahead of their potential title fight
Belal Muhammad did not mince his words in trying to fathom why the UFC seems so sold on Colby Covington getting a title shot against Leon Edwards. For “Remember The Name,” the company sees “Rocky” lacking the star power he needs to have, and insists that “Chaos” is the key.
It’s all business
Speaking on UFC Unfiltered, Muhammad got brutally honest in revealing his disdain for Covington. According to the No. 4 welterweight contender, the only reason “Chaos” became the favorite to face Edwards is because Covington does well in selling fights.
“I think it’s just that Colby, I don’t know, maybe Dana White has a love for him or the UFC sees something in him. I don’t think he’s a superstar. I think that the PPVs he’s sold is because of [Jorge] Masvidal or Kamaru Usman. I don’t think it has anything to do with him… Leon’s not really a talker. He’s not a trash talker, he’s not a guy that’s big into media. He barely does any media and they know that maybe Colby will try to sell the fight more than him and maybe it will give Leon some type of superstardom. I think they’re trying hard to make him a star by giving him guys like Nate Diaz. They tried to do the Masvidal thing and he just doesn’t know how to take that type of energy and go with it because he’s very quiet and just all too himself. He tries to do his talking with fighting. But it’s the entertainment business. You gotta know how to talk, you gotta interact with fans and stuff like that. I just don’t think he does that,” Muhammad pointed out.
Leon wouldn’t ride along with it
The way Muhammad sees it, Covington is not even a “superstar” but will be doing his thing and talking a lot of trash. However, “Rocky” still wouldn’t engage in a back and forth.
“I can that side of it, but I just don’t think he’s this crazy superstar… I don’t think he’s there. I think it takes two to tango and it takes two guys to try and sell a pay-per-view. Even with this fight, I just don’t think that Leon is gonna be taking the bait and try to talk trash with him and back and forth. I think most of it is gonna be like Colby saying very dumb things about London or something Britain or something like that and he’s just basically talking to himself,” Muhammad assessed.
Edwards vs. Covington is linked to take place in London but the reigning welterweight champ previously ruled it out, suggesting he’d rather fight in Abu Dhabi towards the end of the current year. Moreover, Edwards is still not thrilled with the idea of facing Covington but “Chaos” insisted that the UFC might be forced to strip him if keeps on avoiding the bout.
As for Muhammad, he recently verbally agreed to fight Gilbert Burns but a conflict in making weight due to Ramadan prompted him to stall, which resulted in the Brazilian’s impromptu callout on Dustin Poirier.
