UFC 304 Technical Breakdown: Executing a perfect game plan

How Belal Muhammad was able to overcome numerous obstacles with a very intelligent approach.

Hostile Environment

Belal Muhammad came into his first, and likely only, shot at UFC gold with the deck stacked against him. Leon Edwards, a well-rounded and athletically gifted kick-heavy southpaw, is a tough style matchup for the Palestinian-American.

That’s far from the only obstacle Muhammad faced at UFC 304. Having spent eight years in the promotion earning his shot the hard way, meritocratically, Muhammad was also four years older than the champion.

Stacking even more odds against him, the UFC sent Muhammad into the hostile territory of Manchester, Edwards’s hometown. You probably see why so few thought we would see a new welterweight champion crowned.

Despite Muhammad consistently overperforming, it seems that his style just earned him more and more doubters and naysayers with each hard-fought victory.

Even his harshest critics will have to show him some respect after his phenomenal performance against Edwards in their rematch. Muhammad recognized the monumental task ahead of him and approached it with the utmost confidence.

Here we take a look at the components of his very intelligent game plan, appreciating how each part served a necessary purpose in dismantling and dethroning the English champion.

Planning to Pressure

While I noted in my preview article that Edwards succeeded in pressuring Muhammad in their first fight, it’s now clear that Edwards was able to do that because Muhammad let him. Belal was determined not to repeat that mistake in this fight.

The first fifteen seconds of the fight were very telling. Muhammad started walking Edwards down and easily got him behind the black line approaching the fence, but when Edwards then moved forward and threatened, seemingly out of instinct Muhammad backed away as he did habitually in their first fight.

But something immediately clicked in his mind. You could see months of drilling and sparring flash before his eyes as he suddenly sprinted back at Edwards, realizing that he had briefly let up the pressure.

Just seconds later, he again had Edwards with his back to the fence, but this time, he followed his game plan. He used the threat of his strikes to bring up his opponent’s guard, then quickly shot a double leg takedown, quickly locking his hands behind the now exposed hips.

Belal Muhammad’s consistent, but not reckless, pressure was the central piece of his championship winning gameplan.

Muhammad had a few more lapses in the first round, but Edwards’s immediate aggression in those instances swiftly reminded Muhammad why he needed to be the one moving forward.