Welterweight contender Belal Muhammad wasn't impressed with what he saw at UFC 296.
Muhammad, who appears to be in pole position for the next shot at the undisputed 170-pound title, was an interested spectator at Octagonside as Leon Edwards dominated Colby Covington over five rounds to retain his title in the main event at T-Mobile Arena.
The matchup was expected to see Covington charge forward and put the champion under intense pressure throughout the 25-minute matchup, but that surge from the challenger never came, as Edwards effectively nullified Covington to earn scores of 49-46 on all three scorecards in Las Vegas.
Muhammad was left disappointed after the fight, but said that the UFC's decision to give Covington, who had been inactive for 651 days and had lost two prior title tilts at then-champion Kamaru Usman, another shot played into the final product we saw on fight night.
"Honestly, it was a joke to the division," Muhammad told ESPN backstage.
"That's what happens when you get a bum off the couch who's been out for two years, who didn't deserve the shot, and he goes out there and he didn't back up the talk.
"For Leon Edwards, you should have backed up your talk, too. For what Colby said, he deserved to have his jaw broken.
"I thought Leon should have went out there, he should have embarrassed him and put it on him, but he played that little game.
"So, I think the UFC knows who's next. I need to get in there. I need to make the welterweight division great again because I'm going to come to fight, every single fight. I'm going to be in your face, non-stop, 100 percent. There's not going to be no breathing at all for Leon Edwards."
Muhammad said that, when he faces Edwards, he'll be everything Covington wasn't, as he promised to take the fight to the defending champion.
"I'm going to be in his face," he stated.
"I'm going to make him bleed. I'm going to make him breathe hard. I'm going to make him look to his corner and his coach is going to repeat that same statement: 'Don't let him bully you, son!' He's going to say that every single round, and once the fight's over, he’s going to be like, 'You let him bully you, son.' That's what I'm going to do to him. I'm going to bully him."
It remains to be seen if Muhammad gets the next shot. On paper, he would appear to be the most deserving contender. But the surging undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov offers a different option for the UFC. Muhammad said that he's fully prepared to step up and challenge whenever the UFC makes the call.
"I'm ready," he said.
"He didn't take no damage at all. Colby had like 500 strikes. Probably one of them was significant. They're all mosquito bites, so Leon Edwards probably just has to go take a quick shower, brush all that dirt off and he'll be good to go. I hope he doesn’t go on his long tour again.
"He's very inactive. Stay in the gym, stay ready to go. Whenever you're ready, I'm ready to go, bro. You can call me on a week's notice, I’m ready to go. It doesn't matter when the UFC calls. I just want this title fight. In the words of the famous 'GSP', 'Dana! Please! Just give me my shot!'"
