Gilbert Burns anticipated Belal Muhammad’s title win over Leon Edwards: "People cannot deny him anymore"

Belal Muhammad was able to defeat Leon Edwards via unanimous decision at UFC 304 to capture the welterweight title. Gilbert Burns, who suffered a unanimous decision loss to 'Remember the Name' at UFC 288 in the bout that earned Muhammad a title shot, recently revealed that he was not surprised by the outcome.

Speaking to Damon Martin of MMA Fighting, the No. 6-ranked welterweight shared that he saw it coming. He noted that it is hard to knock out Muhammad due to his chin while claiming that Edwards does not knock many opponents out before adding:

"Striking wise, Leon Edwards is very, very good, but putting everything together with the pace, volume, staying in your face, mixing in takedowns, dirty boxing, especially doing the camp with Islam [Makhachev] and Khabib [Nurmagomedov], I knew there was a path for Belal to win. And he did exactly what he had to."

'Durinho' added:

"I wasn't impressed, but I knew what he had to do and he had a long layoff preparing for this fight and I think he was feeding off all that. UFC making him wait, Leon making him wait, he was fed from that. He got very hungry and he worked super hard. You saw he was in amazing shape. I just thought Leon would do a little bit better job in defending, but I still saw Belal overwhelming him with the work. Belal looked very good in becoming a champion. People cannot deny him anymore."

Check out Gilbert Burns' full comments on Belal Muhammad beating Leon Edwards below:

Burns will look to work his way back into the welterweight title picture when he faces Sean Brady in the main event of UFC Fight Night 242 this weekend. Meanwhile, it is unclear who Muhammad will face in his first title defense, however, it seems as if it will be between Kamaru Usman and Shavkat Rakhmonov.

---

Shavkat Rakhmonov claims he was offered UFC 307 clash with Belal Muhammad

Belal Muhammad has not shared when he plans to return to the octagon for his first welterweight title defense. Shavkat Rakhmonov recently claimed that he was offered the opportunity to challenge for the title at UFC 307, however, 'Remember the Name' turned down the bout.

Speaking to Mike Heck of MMA Fighting, the No. 3-ranked welterweight stated:

"I've already been offered to fight Belal and I accepted the fight against Belal, but unfortunately, he declined to fight me due to timing issues. He wasn't ready to defend his belt at that time so we will see what's going to happen and when he's going to be ready."

Check out Shavkat Rakhmonov's comments on being offered a bout against Belal Muhammad below:

Rakhmonov called Muhammad out, claiming that he was going back on his previous word of being an active champion. 'Nomad' later revealed he was offered the clash at UFC 307, which would have marked a 10-week turnaround from UFC 304.