Dana White and the UFC have been announcing fights left and right over the last few days. What is the next fight going to be? Considering UFC 289 through UFC 292 are booked with main events and UFC 293 is going to be Adesanya vs one of Sean Strickland, Dricus Du Plessis, or Robert Whittaker in Australia, the main event of UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi seems reasonable. Islam Makhachev vs the winner of Charles Oliveira or Beneil Dariush felt like a lock until Leon entered the chat. Welterweight Champion, Leon "Rocky" Edwards wants to main event in Abu Dhabi. Dana White has been clear that Colby Covington will be Leon's next opponent. On the other hand, Leon has been clear that he won't be. So that leaves us all in a pickle. The suspense is killer, and I hope it doesn't last.
There is only one deserving contender right now in the Welterweight division to be granted a title opportunity. His name is Belal "Remember the Name" (Bully B) Muhammad. Belal is on a ten-fight win streak defeating five ranked opponents. I have been advocating for Belal for many months now and finally, after defeating Gilbert Burns are people joining in? Colby Covington hasn't defeated anyone in the current rankings, Belal has defeated four in the top ten. What are we waiting for? Belal is next and I think even Dana knows it. Leon won't entertain Colby, and it would be unprecedented for Leon to get stripped for wanting to fight a guy on a ten-fight winning streak compared to the guy who hasn't fought in over a year. Leon hasn't necessarily expressed interest in fighting Belal, but he said he wants to fight an active fighter who had to go on a run to earn their shot. There are only two guys in the Welterweight division that currently fit that build and it's Belal and Gilbert Burns. Belal just beat Gilbert, so Leon can only be describing Belal. Not only that, I imagine Leon wants to knock Belal out after the famous eye poke that turned their half of a round into a no-contest just a few years ago. There is definitely unfinished business here as well as the fact that Belal is the true number one contender in the Welterweight division.
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The interesting thing about Leon wanting to fight in Abu Dhabi is that Islam is most likely going to be on the card as well. Islam is the bigger draw in Abu Dhabi, and possibly in general. Islam probably beats Charles again, and there's a chance he beats Beneil as well. With Gaethje or Poirier being next after Charles/Beneil, Leon and the chance to earn the Welterweight Title might be more enticing for Makhachev. Leon might look at this as a double opportunity as well. Leon probably believes Islam runs through the Lightweight division, while also viewing what Volk did to Islam when Volk went up a weight class and feels he can do more damage than Volk inflicted on Islam in a loss if Islam went up and met him at 170. Leon could be playing chess here. However, he has to get past Belal before he can even think about Islam. You might be asking yourself, what does a win over Islam do for Leon? Well, Islam is a huge draw and double championship fights are typically mega fights, so again Leon could be playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers. Regardless Edwards vs Muhammad is the fight to book at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi and I can not wait to hear Dana say Leon Edwards vs Belal Muhammad will main event UFC 294!
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