Belal Muhammad may have been right about Leon Edwards' skill level

Belal Muhammad vs. Leon Edwards 2 did not turn out as expected, at least for those who predicted a successful welterweight title defense for the Englishman at UFC 304. Ahead of the bout, many were dismissive of Muhammad, given how his first fight with Edwards seemed to be trending prior to the eye poke.

However, 'Remember the Name' had improved since then, and after authoring a 10-fight unbeaten streak, which is now an 11-fight run, he claimed that Edwards was not as good as he was being made out to be. Muhammad believed in his wrestling and grappling despite Edwards' recent success.

The new welterweight champion opined that 'Rocky's' performances against Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington actually counted for little and that he would expose the former champion's limitations. Was he right?

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The gaps in Leon Edwards' skill set

Leon Edwards is a well-rounded fighter, that much is true. His striking is exceptional, his wrestling is respectable, and his grappling is underrated. More importantly, 'Rocky's' game has an element of synergy, as the idea of being well-rounded is often misunderstood.

A well-rounded fighter isn't someone who can kickbox competently and has the odd takedown and unorthodox strike. It is a fighter who can combine every facet of MMA into a fully realized combat system. On the feet, Edwards is a slick striker who uses his kicks and southpaw jab as distance management tools.

Check out Leon Edwards' elbows in the clinch:

He also frequently batters his opponent's midsection with round kicks to lower their guard, all in an effort to set up either a head kick or a clinch transition into an elbow. Some fighters will look to catch Edwards' kick and lunge down the inside of his trapped leg with a counter while he's one-legged.

However, Edwards doesn't kick with much follow-through, so he can retract his kicking leg right back into his stance to draw a premature lunge. This allows him to slip on the inside of his foe's punches to trap them in the clinch, where he gets trips or frames them and turns them into elbows.

The former champion also has a decent wrestling game. He has several inside and outside trips from the clinch, one of which he scored against Kamaru Usman after securing an over-under body lock to control the latter's posture. Using his height for leverage, he hooks his leg around Usman's for an outside trip.

Check out Leon Edwards taking down Kamaru Usman:

He also forced several scrambles against Colby Covington, whom he also outwrestled, threatening with punches up top before dropping for a quick double-leg injury. So, the Englishman is good—great, even. But Belal Muhammad claimed that his rival was not as good as advertised and that he'd expose him.

What, then, did Muhammad expose? Edwards has always had an issue with focus. On the feet, he has a tendency to try forcing the perfect exchange, which is compounded by another tendency: he admires his offensive work far too much. 'Rocky' will land a strike, even stun his foe, and will not capitalize.

He also doesn't move his head off the center line. In short, there are massive openings in his defense because he so often relinquishes the initiative, often voluntarily, as he simply takes turns with his opponent. Additionally, his striking is not nearly as good if his kicks are taken away.

Given Edwards' habit of backing up in a straight line, Muhammad exposed several gaps. He landed uppercuts through the gap of Edwards' guard during those lulls the Englishman so often falls into, making him pay for not moving his head while also applying heavy pressure to deprive him of the space and time to throw kicks.

Edwards' answer to this was to back up in a straight line to create said space, but all it did was land him against the fence. When it came to grappling, Rocky, like middleweight great Israel Adesanya, always turned over to his front in an ill-advised effort to get back to his feet after takedowns.

Check out Belal Muhammad capitalizing on how often Leon Edwards exposes his back:

This exposes his back to being mounted and his neck to rear-naked chokes. Edwards has gotten away with it due to welterweight's absence of grapplers who capitalize on such opportunities. In short, there are too few submission grapplers at 170 pounds to make him realize the danger of doing so.

This isn't to say that Muhammad is a submission threat, but he's a different style of grappler than most other welterweights. So, whenever Edwards did expose his back, 'Remember the Name' was quick to take it.

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Analyzing Leon Edwards' recent wins over Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington

Many were convinced of Leon Edwards' defensive wrestling and anti-pressure game after his wins over Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington. First, the Englishman's second win over 'The Nigerian Nightmare' was more competitive than some may remember.

While Edwards' takedown defense seemed to have improved massively since their prior outing at UFC 278, Belal Muhammad pointed out that this was not the same Usman that Edwards had faced. Instead, it was a far more timid 'Nigerian Nightmare' who did not apply his usual pressure on Edwards.

Check out Leon Edwards fence-grabbing:

He was still reeling from the devastating knockout he had suffered in their previous matchup. Even still, he managed to outwrestle the Englishman, forcing him to resort to cheating on numerous occasions, consisting of blatant fence-grabs when Usman was completing a takedown.

Moreover, Edwards' win over Covington, one of the welterweight division's greatest pressure fighters and wrestlers was similarly scrutinized by 'Remember the Name.' The new welterweight champion has never held Covington in high esteem and with good reason.

Covington has no wins over anyone currently ranked at welterweight. In fact, every single opponent he has beaten in the UFC is retired, unranked, or in a lower weight class. Furthermore, much of the acclaim he earns is from competing closely with Usman in sloppy kickboxing bouts.

Neither Covington nor Usman are strikers. They're wrestlers who can strike. In their first meeting, they didn't wrestle each other at all, they only struck. Usman's primary strength is his wrestling, which he didn't use against Covington at all. Similarly, Covington's greatest strength is his wrestling.

Check out a sequence from Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington:

He didn't use it against Usman, either. Instead, they used their two weakest skills, striking, without the threat of takedowns to open up their strikes. When Covington did wrestle Usman in the rematch, it was brief, and he never tried again, with the bout devolving into another sloppy kickboxing match.

Muhammad made this observation to point out that Covington is not as good as advertised, which is why 'Chaos' looked so neutered against Edwards, who even managed to outwrestle him. So, was Muhammad right about Edwards? As things stand, the answer is yes.