by Darren Moore
Leon “Rocky” Edwards (18-3-0) takes on Belal “Remember the Name” Muhammad (18-3-0) in a Welterweight bout at UFC Vegas 21 at the UFA Apex Center on Saturday night, with Edwards having been promised a shot at the title should he emerge victorious according to UFC president Dana White.
Leon Edwards vs Belal Muhammad Prediction:
Method of Victory – Leon Edwards by Decision
Leon Edwards
The 29 year-old British fighter hasn’t been in action since beating former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos by Unanimous Decision back in July 2019, with his last four bouts (including three against the Chechnya-born Swede Khamzat Chimaev) all having been scratched due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Edwards is currently number three in the UFC Welterweight rankings, having won eight straight fights since his last loss to the division’s current champion, Kamaru Usman, by Decision back in 2015.
Of Edwards’s 18 wins as a pro fighter, six have come via KO, three through submissions and nine by decision.
Belal Muhammad
The 32 year-old Muhammad is on a four-fight winning streak, with his last defeat coming against Geoff Neal in January 2019. Prior to that, he had also had won four consecutive bouts.
Muhammad does have a couple of impressive victories to his name whilst Edwards has been inactive and he will be counting on that momentum here. His bouts tend to go to the judges’ scorecards, with 15 of his 21 fights going the distance. He can point to four KO victories and a single submission win too.
Edwards vs Muhammad Odds
Edwards goes into the fight as a moderate favorite. This bout looks set to go the distance, with Edwards emerging as the winner.
Edwards is a strong counter-striker which could count in his favor against Muhammad, who likes to try and put forward pressure on his opponents and can be left exposed.
UFC Vegas 21 Fight Card
In other fights on the card, the Latvian-born Canadian Misha Cirkunov (15-5-0) is a marginal favorite against Ryan “Superman” Spann (18-6-0) in their Light Heavyweight encounter and the Texan might be worth backing at the odds in an evenly matched bout.
Dan “50K” Ige (14-3-0) takes on Gavin “Guv’nor” Tucker (13-1-0) in a Featherweight bout . This is another fight that looks well-matched, and Tucker could be worth backing as the marginal outsider given how he’s returned with three straight wins following his one professional loss.
View latest UFC betting lines | Visit Official UFC website
Darren lives & breathes sports betting and is always sniffing out his next value bet. His favourite sports to bet on are the NFL, horse racing and UFC but he will bet on anything if he thinks the odds are favourable.
