Belal Muhammad spoke recently with Damon Martin for MMA Fighting about the fight-ending eye poke he suffered from Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC Vegas 21 last Saturday.
Honestly, literally I thought I was blind, said Muhammad. I was moving my eye around, when you’re trying to move your eye around, and I literally couldn’t see nothing but black. I closed my other eye just hoping I could see something, and I couldn’t see absolutely nothing.
It was more so from there, I knew the fight was going to be over, and that’s honestly what broke my heart the most, because that’s what you work your whole career for that moment, my life literally could have changed with that fight. I could have beat him and we could be fighting for a title next. That was a life-changing moment for me and my family, and a lot of things could have changed, but it was all snatched away with a freaking eye poke.
Edwards apologized profusely for the foul, but later said he hopes for a title shot next, while Muhammad, ranked 13th in the division to Edwards’ #3, naturally wants a rematch.
I was seeing red – I was pissed, said Muhammad. Honestly, that’s what pissed me off the most. Cause he was looking past it, not worried about it. At that moment, he felt bad, but then he looked past [me]. I could have been sitting there in the hospital blind, my career could have been over, and he wasn’t even thinking about it. But he’s doing a press tour like he freaking won the fight – ‘I’m back, I need the title fight.’ That’s the thing, he thinks he’s owed all of this stuff, and that’s why I feel people do not like him.
Like I said, he’s the one who literally committed the foul. He’s the one who was warned. He’s the one who messed up. Man-to-man, out of respect if you’re a freaking real fighter, you would be like, ‘I messed up, let me own up to it, I’ll give you your rematch.’
Dana White literally said if he beats me, he gets the title shot. Well, the title’s already on the line with somebody else, so you obviously need another fight unless you’re going to sit out another 600 days. This fight literally makes the most sense. We literally had a fight, it was unfinished business.
I’m fuming. I didn’t get an ending to the fight. I have a bad taste in my mouth because there was no result in the fight. Now, I feel like I didn’t fight and I need to fight. I need that energy. I need that fight again.”
I had no ill will against him before then, but I do now. Just his whole attitude and the way he’s acting. I’m a hard guy to get mad, but he irritated me and he’s pissing me off with just the way he’s acting and the way he’s like, ‘I won the first round, so we knew how the fight’s going to go.’
There’s five rounds in a fight, you moron. I literally pick up as the fight goes on, so the fact that he’s talking like that, that’s what’s pissing me off the most.
Man-to-man, if you’re happy with that result, then you shouldn’t call yourself a fighter. You shouldn’t call yourself a contender. You shouldn’t call yourself a champion. Man-to-man, if you’re happy with that result, honestly you should just hang up your gloves.
No real fighter, no true fighter would want a fight to end like that. No true fighter would let that happen. You committed the foul. You owe me the rematch. Let’s do it.
Muhammad says the stitches underneath his eyelid will come out next week, and he can slowly return to training thereafter.
