Does Belal Muhammad deserve a title shot after UFC 280 performance?

Following his victory over Sean Brady at UFC 280, is Belal Muhammad next in line for a title shot?

On Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, live from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, Belal Muhammad picked up a statement victory over Sean Brady at UFC 280. Muhammad won the fight by TKO in Round 2 at 4:47 handing Brady his first loss in the UFC.

The fight itself was arguably one of the better fights on the card. It started off quickly with a flurry of kicks by Brady and it didn’t settle down. The two men battled it out in the cage, giving each other everything they had to offer. The fight ended with mere seconds to go in the second round when Muhammad sensed a finish coming, and unleashed a flurry of punches to finish Brady off.

Perhaps one of the biggest moments came at the very end of the fight when Muhammad was interviewed by UFC legend, Daniel Cormier, inside the cage. When asked about what was next, Muhammad had some ideas, but one of those ideas stood out a little bit more than the others.

“I heard Leon Edwards is looking for a fight, I heard that the big bad wolf (Khamzat Chimaev) is coming down. I can fight at 179.8, it doesn’t matter. I just fought an undefeated guy,” said Muhammad.

Is Belal Muhammad next in line for Leon Edwards and the welterweight championship?

While this may not be an easy answer, he should not be next in line to challenge Leon Edwards for the welterweight title, at this moment. This could change, but right now he still has a few people ahead of him. One of which is a rematch for Edwards waiting to happen in Kamaru Usman.

Usman is hoping to finish off his trilogy with Edwards and surely Usman would, and should, get dibs on Edwards next. However, Usman aside, one can’t rule out a potential showdown with the likes of Khamzat Chimaev, or Colby Covington.

While Covington hasn’t been seen since defeating Jorge Masvidal in March of this year, he would certainly come ahead of Muhammad in the rankings, as well as be a bigger fight for Edwards. The same could, and should, be said about the undefeated Chimaev as well.

The future of the welterweight division will sure be interesting and heat up as time goes on. One thing that is for sure though, there are a lot of people in the welterweight division who are staking their claim and showing why they should be given the next title shot opportunity.