MMA Fighting - Fighter vs. Writer: Belal Muhammad Reacts to Leon Edwards’ Stunning Comeback Win, Calls Conor McGregor ‘Pathetic’ For Mocking Kamaru Usman after KO

Episode Date: August 23, 2022

Belal Muhammad joins the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer to help breakdown everything that unfolded at UFC 278 including Leon Edwards’ stunning comeback victory to beat Kamaru Usman and become welterweight champion. Muhammad will give his thoughts on Edwards’ performance as well as the set up that led to the head kick knockout to finish Usman in the main event. With his own fight scheduled at UFC 280, Muhammad also addresses the messy situation at 170 pounds now that Edwards is champion and how that might delay his own hopes for a title shot. Will Edwards face Usman again for a third time or could he convince the UFC to give him the fight against Jorge Masvidal instead? Finally, Muhammad will address Conor McGregor and Jake Paul after they both mocked Usman following his devastating knockout loss. All this and more on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts Subscribe: Spotify Read More: MMA Fighting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Back to the Fighter versus the writer. I'm your host, as always, Damon Martin, and after an insane UFC 278 weekend, I could not imagine a better person to speak to right now than a guy. guy who was sitting Caveside to watch it all unfold. Of course, he is also one of the top welterweights in the world making his return to action in October and a frequent co-host on this podcast. He's got his own podcast. I say it's second to this one, but, you know, it probably is better.

I mean, let's just be honest. I am always happy to speak to Bilau Muhammad. Below, how are you, my friend? Good, my brother. Glad to be back on the show. Yeah, we got a lot to talk about. Absolutely. First off, let me talk about the elephant in the room before we talk about anything else,

because I saw you cage side. We got to catch a glimpse to you. Love the T-shirt, but you're wearing the sunglasses inside, Below. Come on now. Are you going full rock star on me here? No, actually, it was one of those things. I heard Tony Ferguson is coming up to 170,

so I just want to remind them, let him know that 170 already has a sunglass guy. So I just want to let him know. Like, bro, I'm a sung-glass guy at 170, and I'll come up to Welch or 8 thinking that you're going to come in and take my spot. That's hilarious. I did like, tell me about the,

the t-shirt. I love the t-shirts. Yeah, I went out there. I was like, you know, bro, you know, I got to go out there. Anytime I do something, I want to make a statement. Like, I mean, I try to do it at the International Fight Week, trying to get me in Comzac going. Obviously, that one didn't work. But for this one, I'm like, I'm going out there.

It's a wealth of a great fight. I really was going to go out there just to support my brother, Jared Gordon. And then I realized, oh, wait, dang, that's the Welterweight Championship fight, too. So I'm like, if I'm going to sit front row, I want to get my notice. I want to get my name seen. I want Dana White to be like, all right, maybe he is next. Obviously, we got a big fight ahead of us against John Brady, but after that, I think there's no denying me. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.

So, Belaw was a crazy weekend. You were Cajside for it. Of course, this is your division. Boy, I tell you what, what a shocking end of that fight. I mean, credit to Kumar Usman, what a legend he is, an incredible champion, winning the fight. And then Leon Edwards, you know, credit to Leon Edwards, pulling off the, the, stunning comeback less than a minute ago he lands the head kick i'll be honest i was doing the recap for mhm a fighting and i was pretty much just like i had already put the nail in the coffin like

i was already just like typing out kamarro's coronation as champion then like literally out the corner my eye i see the knockout like that's how sure i was that the fight was over and then out of nowhere there's the head kick now you were there i mean can you even explain to me the shock of that moment actually unfolding in front of you yeah it was pretty cool crazy. It was a, you know, you're watching the fight. You're watching how it's playing out. And it's playing out for the most part of how I thought it would. I thought Kamarro would use a lot of his wrestling. It would go back to the first fight's game plan. And I think that he was pretty much dominating yet. Leon had his moment in the first round. But after that, it looked like honestly

Leon was breaking. Mentally, his head was down. He wasn't really throwing any fire at him. The rounds two to four. I felt like he was giving up on himself. Even in between rounds, I'm looking at his corner just to see what his body language is and his body language was head down. He looked depressed. He looked like, dang, I lost my shot. And I'm sitting there, man, it's the fifth round. And I'm like, me and my brother are talking. I'm like, bro, at what point are you just going to let it all out? Are you just going to let loose? Because you just have to keep throwing. There's the fifth round. Even like you saw a lot in the Rockhold fight, Rockhold was dead tired. But then he'll have his moments where he just throws bombs. And I was like,

Leon didn't have none of that at all. And I was like, man, this bro just wasted. It took him this launch to get this shot and he just gave up. And then all of a sudden, that kick comes and I'm like, oh, my God. For me, like you have millions of people saying, oh, that's a lucky kid. Yeah, yada, yada, yada. But it's, it's one of the kicks that he practices. You can tell he trains a kick for him to say, oh, I knew that kick was going to land, blah, blah, blah, it wasn't.

Like, there wasn't like chaos. And then he threw the kick. It was just, tomorrow, I think, just took his foot off the gas for one second. And then it's poor, all it takes is one punch, one kick, one elbow. to land and your night can be ended that easily. And like you said, that's what you love about MMA. That's what you love about the sport because you have to stay on your toes until that final bell rings.

You have to stay disciplined with all aspects of the game, all defenses, even as a coach going back, rewatching it. He's telling him in the corner in the fifth round, don't do anything stupid. Don't let anything happen. Don't mess up. And it's not on Usman where it was like, he got cocky or something like that. It was just literally the kick landed perfectly spot.

And for all the bad luck that Leon had, has he finally got some good luck where it like landed perfectly. Yeah. And to me, and you made a great point there. And I hate that people try to diminish the win by saying it was lucky. There was nothing lucky about. There's no such thing as a lucky punch.

You threw a kick. He meant to land it. And he set it up. Like I said, it wasn't like you said, it was a crazy exchange and he threw like some spinning thing just hoping it would land. It wasn't that.

Like he set up the combination. and Kamaro, you know, ducked his head and he went into the head kick. I mean, again, credit to Leon Edwards for actually doing that and setting it up and pulling it off. I hate the idea there's this like lucky kick or a fluke. There's no fluke. He's there a head kick meaning to land. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Like, when you throw a strike, you're trying to knock everybody out.

Like, no matter who you are, what you do, the point out is to finish the fight with all strikes. And that's what you're trying to do it. I've been in the cage with Leon. He's throwing that kick at you and he disguises it. with the same side. Usually, you don't notice it because guys are throwing punch, left hand, left kick, right hand, right kick. And so many people are used to, all right,

he throws left and right, left and right, left and right. But when you throw the same side, punch, same side kick, a lot of guys slip right into it. And kind of like what John Jones did to D.C., where he slipped right into it. Same way with this one, Usman slipped right into it. So it just added that extra power into it because Usman leaned right into it. And like he said, it's not one of the,

of those, oh man, amazing, crazy spinning back fist knockout as Usman was rushing in. Usman was walking forward, plotting for it, like he was doing the whole fight, and just didn't see the kick behind it. He disguised it very well. Yeah. It was shocking, though, because Leon Edwards is not a guy known for one-shot knockout power. He's never built his reputation on that. And again, all it takes is one.

And Kamar Usman has shown an incredible chin. We've seen him get hit, and he doesn't typically go down. I mean, it's, again, it's a lot, a lot of competition. of factors of why that was such a shocking result because again, you know, Camaro's up big, you know, he's pretty much, you know, I don't think he was coasting. I don't think any of that. I do think exhaustion was hitting both guys. That elevation, I mean, good, I joked on Saturday night.

I said, first thing first, never going to elevation again because some of the fights, like you can tell, like it's just like, Josie Aldo is another one. Like, Josie Aldo is not a guy. He's been in so many five-round fights. And you can tell about the second rally, even in a, even in a fight where there wasn't a ton happening, they were gassing. Like, these guys were gassing. I mean, it was a real deal.

And I think that fifth round, I think you saw a little bit of that in Kamar, like he had been pushing the pace and he trains their altitude. But I think I saw in that fifth round, like, it was hitting him too. Yeah, exactly. I think that altitude played a huge part for a lot of the fights. And for Usman's fight, it was the – Usman was doing a lot of work where it was great striking out of defeat and then shooting it.

And then it just kept doing it every single round. You had a lot of fans booing and things like that. But I thought there was a lot of action. on the feet with Usman's and when he would throw on the feet, it was doing enough to get Leon's hands up and then he'll change levels and controlled him on the ground for the most far. I had some really good ground to pound. And it wasn't Luke Rockhole tiredness where Usmott's hands around his knees.

But, you know, when you're in a game of this where you have to keep your hands up at all times, one little inch lower from fatigue. And that's what ended his night, I think. I think that it played a big fan. factor in the with Leon where Leon you could just tell that he was tired he was breaking uh for usvon he always has great cardio has he has great movement everything for the most and the fact that he was dominating in the fight I don't think he was that tired I just think it was like all right final minute we got this game's over I think a lot of a lot of it too had to play with the fans

booing because when he was fun did have down within I think a minute left or something like that or had him against the cage and the fans started booing and I think that he wanted to probably end with the flurried to try to get some cheers out of them, uh, when he should have just probably played a safe and just held him there and easy coast of victory. But Leon really wasn't showing him anything. Like he wasn't showing a dog in him.

He wasn't showing like Amanda, I mean, Amanda Nunez Giuliana Pena. Pena was going until the end. Pena was throwing up to the end. Leon, he just looked like he gave up on himself in that fourth round, fifth round, beginning of fifth round. And if I'm moose on, I'm thinking,

oh, this guy's breaking. Let me just get one last flurry on him. He's definitely going to break. Yeah. Now, Below, I know you in no way, shape, or form are a hater. You're going to go out and, you know, you will credit Leon Edwards for getting the win, as we all should, absolutely. But on a personal note, like, is there a little bit of bittersweet, like, feeling here? Because, you know, you had to fight with Leon.

We talked directly after that fight. I think, like, two days later, you know, you wanted the rematch. We felt like that was the fight that made sense. It was an unfortunate ending. We know it never happened. Now you have, you know, climbed your way into where you're in that top three, four in the world. and like, like, now Leon's champion, like, is there any bitter, like, not that you're trying to take away for his victory in any way, shape, or form, I don't want to make it sound like that,

but it was there a little bit of bittersweet feeling there, like, man, like, that could have been me in there because if you, we don't know how that, we never saw the result of you in Leon, and you said something on Saturday night, you said unfinished business, it's true. You never got, you had one round with him, and like for anyone that said you were, you lost that round, well, Kamar lost the first round to Leon and then came back and dominated for it. So that whole, like, you lost one round thing is such a joke. But, like, was there a little bit of bittersweet feeling? Like, seeing and again, not hating on Leon, like, I'm sure, you know, deep down inside,

like, good for him. You know, he had an incredible victory. But that could have been you, you know what I mean? Like, you never got the chance to actually run it back with him. Yeah, I mean, I'm getting a lot of people, too, saying, oh, you got dominate. Like, when I put on finished business, you had the comments, like, oh, he was dominating your first round. Like, bro, well, he mounted Usman on the first round.

He took Usman's back. And then Usman dominated him for rounds two to four and a half. And then Leon had that one strike to knock him out. I'm like, this is MMA. People are, fans are dumb. They don't know what it is to be in there. They don't know what, even for Leon, he can't even use that excuse no more. So bitter sweetness comes from, I wanted to be the one to stop Bushman.

He was a Pop-Fron guy. He was the guy that nobody thought that could beat him. I saw my ways to beat him. I saw my avenues to beat him. And I wanted to be the guy that puts the answer to his run. Also, you know, like you said, I see. myself kind of like in the same boat where Leon was where, you know, you had this long winning streak, you know, everybody's, you know, not giving you any credit for anything. So we're,

we were kind of like in the same path to get to that title shot. It's going to be, it's a long road for him. It's going to be a long road for me. So like, you're happy for a guy that, all right, well, I see that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. It may have took that long, but he finally got the title. But I'm not annoyed. Kind of like just one. there's anxiety of like what's going to happen next because Usman was very active champion. He's a guy that was willing to fight three times a year. Leon, a guy that fights one time a year. Now that he's champion,

it took him this long to get here. I just had this, man, this gut feeling that he's going to drag us drag this out. He's going to sit there, especially the way the fight was going. I don't think he's going to try to rush into a rematch with Usman or any of the guys that should be next, whether it's me, Kamzat, Kobe, like we all had that style of all right we'll strike you and take you down and the way that usma was doing it so easily to him i think he's gonna avoid any of those fights and his first title of the fence i think he's gonna try to push a masvada narrative of we got unfinished business with masvada uh three three which calls in a soda uh i need to get that one back he's gonna try to create that narrative and if you're the ufc you're like well masadol is the biggest star in the ufc next to kind of mcgregor so well our all right, there's a story there. Let me try to, let's try to book that Masbado versus Leon fight in London or something like

that because they know it'll sell favorite views. And for them, it's all about money. The UFC wanted that big fight with Camaro and Comzaa because Camaro had that untouchableness to him. And Comzaa has that untouchableness to him. They just lost that. So I feel like they're going to try to substitute that with the bad blood between Leon and and Maslidol. And I just had that bad feeling, man.

It's going to happen like that. and Leon's going to be one of those guys that doesn't fight or is going to avoid a lot of fights and there may probably be interim title fights. The downside is that, and I think you probably agree, Balao, the reality is it should be Camaro and Leon again.

And I know that's kind of breaks your heart because you're a guy who, you know, in theory, you should be one win away from a title shot. We all know that. Going out there and doing what you did to Vicentee, and then taking a really tough fight against the guy and Sean Brady, undefeated guy. Guy, by the way, in all honestly,

I think Sean Brady deserves far more hype than he's receiving in terms of what he's done. I actually said this when Hamzot was coming in. I said, why are we not talking about Sean Brady more? Because I think he's done more than Hamzot at this point. But we'll come back to that in a second. But it's heartbreaking for you because you should have been October win, extend your winning streak, title shot. That should have been the narrative is built. Unfortunately, now we're looking, like, it should be Camaro and Leon again.

Like, Camaro's done enough to, to why don't, I'm not a big fan of automatic rematches. I'm really not, but I think this is one case where it's warranted. He was a long-reaning champion. He has a win over Leon, and he was winning the fight. He was winning handily, even in that fifth round he was winning, and he just got caught. Again, he got caught with a great head kick, but that should be next. Am I wrong? No, yeah, exactly.

Like, for me, I understand it, and he definitely needs the next fight. Like, that should be, there should be nothing else, but who's my next? Like, he learned it. He was in a pound-for-pon-talk. He was in the Go-Talk. And you gave, same way you gave Amanda Nunez her rematch automatically. Like, I think Usman deserves the rematch for sure. But if I'm Leon, and I'm just trying to think of the way Leon thinks,

in the same way that he didn't give me my rematch because he did, oh, he didn't earn it. He's probably going to play that narrative of, well, I finished him, blah, blah, blah, and, you know, I want to fight Mazvedov first in London. And I think that they're going to try to push that way. That's just the way that I think he's going to go. If I'm UFC, if I'm Dana White, I think that. Usman earned it. He deserves it. I don't think no one should get it next, but Usman. And for me, like, I hate to say that because, like, I, obviously, I want to be next when I walk through Sean Brady, and I think that I've earned it too.

But, like, I understand that Usman's earned it should be next before me or before anybody else. But I'm, I tell you, man, I just have this bad feeling. It's going to end up being the whole, well, Masvedol and him had this big history, blah, blah, blah. and it's going to be that thing. Somebody brought it up to me after the fight, and I said on Twitter, I don't have anything against Jorge Mazel. I like Hori action. Just interviewed him a few weeks ago.

I've always liked Jorge. But he's on, you know, three-fight losing streak, you know, got dominated, you know, pretty badly by Colby, got dominated, you know, knocked out by Camaro. And I said, I just can't see a world where they give him a title shot.

And somebody reminded me, they said, remember when Michael Bisp being knocked out Luke Rockhold, he got Dan Henderson. Dan Henderson had not earned a title shot. Dan Henderson was not the number one guy in the division, but Dan Henderson had that knockout over Bisping, and Bisping wanted it back. Now, as a guy who loves Michael Bisping,

you will not find a bigger Michael Bisping guy in the world to me. I was glad to see him be able to get that fight back. But in terms of where it made sense, when you had guys like Robert Whitaker and other guys out there, it didn't make any natural sense that Dan Henderson got the title shot. When somebody said that to me, I was like, you know what? They might do it. They might do the Maselol fight.

And listen, I get it from Leon. perspective. It's, let's be, it's an easier fight than going through Camaro again. You know what I mean? And, and, and there's there is a, you know, he did get, you know, he had to hear for years, that whole three piece in the soda thing. He still hears that every day. So I'm sure there's probably wants it back. But when you say that, I'm like, no way. But then you're right. It could happen. There's a world where I could absolutely see them do, especially if maybe Camaro doesn't come back as quickly. You know, Camar unfortunately had that hand injury going into the fight. They're going back to London, I think, in March is all the rumors I'm here.

You might be on to something. Yeah, exactly, man. And Camaro is already at that point. I think it usually happens to a lot of these champions, too, where remember when Benson Henderson was talking about, yeah, I got two more fights left and I'm retiring. Hosea Aldo was saying that, too, at 145, I have a couple more fights left. And then they end up losing the belt and then they keep, they stay in. Um,

Um, tomorrow was already talking about, yeah, I got one or two more fights left. Uh, I want big money fights. And then all of a sudden, it's like a bad omen where you end up losing the belt.

And it just, bad luck happens to you type thing like that. And whenever these guys start bringing that up. And for Usman, you know, you have a movie that he's about to play in now. So I don't know how long, that long layoffs going to be.

He just got knocked out really bad. You said he had a couple of hand injuries. I know he's always had knee injuries. So, if I'm Leon, it's like, well, I want to,

I want to, I want to fight in London, blah, blah. If he's not ready for London, then give me somebody else. And Mazbado still has that McGregor, uh, aura about him where he, no matter who it is, McGregor can come and get a tile shot right away because they know he's going to sell

a million pay reviews. I think he's going to be the same way with Mazbado where he may have lost three in a row, but him and Leon will sell. People are still going to buy him. Uh, whether he wins or loses, the fans are still going to be there and they're still going to buy their pay favorite view and I just know man I just it's going to be true it's going to be terrible but I just

know what's going to happen yeah now I know this is an impossible question for you to answer personally belal because if I would ask you this question a year and a half ago I think I'd get a different answer because it looked like again we truly believe that you should have gotten that fight with leon again so I don't want to turn this into just that conversation but in your heart or harsh do you think you'll ever see leon edwards again and you're like I know it's impossible say for sure because weird things happen but in your head right now now. Do you think you'll ever see Leon Edwards again? It all depends.

I think that if he fights Masvada, he'll probably keep that belt for one or two more fights. But if he fights Mazbara, then they give it to Usman, the next fight after that, then I think it's going to end up being, Usman's going to be the champion. It has to be the point where I'm next in line because I think that whoever Leon fights next, if it's somebody like me comes out or you know Gilbert burns he's going to lose the belt and I won't see him again because I think I'm going to have to fight after this fight

I think I'm going to fight the champion next and I think that he won't be holding the belt unless he fights a Mazvedol next or honestly I know him McGregor are the same management group but I could see that one happening too for some reason like I could see them McGregor all you know I want to fight at 170 blah blah and Leon's probably the only person at 170 he could be because it'll be a striking match.

Yeah. Yeah, you're not wrong. I mean, you're not wrong about that. And on the flip side, you know, in your own situation, Blau, like, you know, when the fight with Sean Brady got to announce, I'm like, I like the matchup and I like your willingness because you're not a guy who turned down, who turns down fights. I mean, you were the guy calling out Hamzot when no one was calling out Hamzao besides Neil Magny.

I always want to give credit to Neil. Neil's always willing to step up, but you were the only other guy. This is in theory, this is not a knock on Sean Brae. in any way, shape, or form. This is a step down for you. You're going from Vicente Lucke, who was number five, number six in the world. You got in that top five. You're taking a step down to fight Sean Brady, who's a guy behind you in the rankings.

Now, again, credit where credits do. He's looked great. He's undefeated. I think people should be talking about him more considering what he's done. But why? Because, like, I thought once everything played up, my thought was, well, probably you and Gilbert would make the most sense, because he's still high ranked and you were high ranked and, you know, kind of the only guys. We knew you weren't going to get Colby.

Let's be honest, that was never going to be an option, especially with him having brain damage, apparently, from the George Mazinol incident. We knew the Colby fight wouldn't get out. I just knew that wasn't going to happen. Why shot, like, why were you willing? Because we got to be honest, but a lot of guys wouldn't do this.

A lot of guys would say, no, I'll wait, I'll sit, I'll do this, I'll do that. You took this fight. You're traveling all the way to Abu Dhabi to do it. Yeah, I mean, honestly, it was, it was a process because I was sitting there like, well, Comza's not booked. Why am I not fighting Hamza? That makes the most sense in the world because at the time,

it was, all right, we're the only two guys in the top five that haven't fallen tomorrow yet where you're hyping them up. I was trying to cut Comza fight before the Luque fight. I was like, bro, let me fight Comza. Even the Wonderboy fight. I was like, let me fight Comza. And they just kept brushing it up, brushing it off. And I was like, oh, well, okay, I just beat number five in the world.

He beat Gilbert, number three. three in the world. This makes the most sense. We're only two guys. So I thought that was going to happen. And then the whole time they're telling me, I'm calling him. Well, they said, you know, he's having to be issues. He's not going to fight. Oh, he's having beast issues. He's not going to be fighting. Then you started hearing the rumors of him and Nate Diaz. And I'm like, how does that make any sense?

And then my manager is like, oh, no, you know, I'm like, they haven't booked him in Nadeez yet. So I'm like, I'm not going to accept this. And all of a sudden you see Sean Brady calling me out on Twitter. and I'm like, all right, I'm not even going to give this guy attention, but, you know, the south side Chicago comes out of you where you're like, all right, well, I'm just starting to respondent to him. And we've supposed to fight before.

So when he's saying stupid stuff like you're running for me, I'm like, didn't you pull out of the first fight? Then he has like some weird loser manager on there starting to tweet out. And then you started getting the, like, the trashy people from Philly commenting on all my post. You're scared, blah, blah, blah. You're scared. And I'm like, all right, these guys are the shit up losers. But I was like, you know, I'm going to wait a way.

for Comzaa or Gilbert. And then you see Gilbert and Masvedo talking about fighting each other. And obviously if you're Gilbert, Mazadal's a money fight. It is a way easier fight than I am. So I was like, okay, that's getting attention now.

So that's getting annoying. So I'm like, well, me and Comsat still makes the most sense because they still didn't have booked an A-Dia's fight. And then my manager called me, he's like, oh, I want to get you in Abu Dhabi.

The UFC wants to put you down there. It'll be huge for you. And last time I thought there was amazing. The fans were great over there. And that was like four years ago. So I've always wanted to go back. especially now. And then, you know, they sold me on Abu Dhabi,

but then I was like, okay, well, me against Coms at there, that'll be huge. Oh, no, cons that still having issues. We're dealing with some stuff with him. He's not going to fight. And all they have right now is Sean Brady. That's the only one that they have right now. And I'm like, obviously that's the one that the UFC is trying to push on me,

this, this and this. They think he has hype, obviously, in the MMA community where a lot of guys are always 15 and 0. Fans, like you said, don't really know who he is, But that Mets community knows who he is. He has hype from fighters. So I understand that 15 and 0, this is a guy. I can take his oath from him.

He's a guy that the UFC things can be a champion. So if I go out there, I walk through him. I'm like, I'm not afraid to fight anybody. If I think I could be a champion, I have to go through everybody. And then I figure that, all right, well, I'll take it. Let's go. I want to fight it al-Badabia. I don't want to sit out.

I don't want to wait until next year and see how it plays out because then I'll just be sitting on the sidelines. And when I'm healthy and I'm able to fight, I want to fight. I want to stay active. I'm at my best when I'm getting multiple fights a year. And I hate being a guy that sits out because you never know how something is going to happen, especially if I was sitting out right now. And I was like, I'm going to wait and see what happens.

Then this thing ended up happening where Kamarro did lose the title. Then they have to do the rematch. So then eventually I would have to sit again and wait for another guy to fight. So I was like, all right, well, he has hype. He has this. He has that. Let me go out there, take his oath from him. And then I can't be denied.

I feel like after this fight, there shouldn't be anybody else. But we'll see what happens. Yeah. Was there a weirder scenario in the world? Listen, again, I have nothing but the utmost respect for Sean Brady, but you should be fighting Hamza. Like, that's the one that should have happened. And Hamzaun Nate Diaz has got to be one of the three weirdest fight bookings in, like,

UFC history, especially with Dana is saying, Hamz like it's a title shot by beating Nate Diaz. Now, you and I both know, this is Dana saying things to hype the fight. Come on, let's be honest, because there's a reason why no one is talking about this fight because no one sees it as a competitive fight. I like Nate Diaz very much. I think he's a warrior, been around, fought everybody. We know Nate Diaz does not back down from a challenge.

He is, but he's not a welterweight. He's just not. I still have a vision. I was at the fight. I remember when he fought Rory McDonald and Rory was like launching him across the cage with takedowns because he's just not a welterweight. So this has got to be one of the weirdest. And I know what they're, we all know what they're doing.

They're trying to send Diaz out on a loss. It's his last fight. Give him a lopsided opponent. I get it. We all understand what's going on here. But it's the weirdest bit of matchmaking when you've been asking for the Homsod fight. And now, in Homsat has a legit win now. He has a legit winner over Gilbert Burns.

That is a legitimate good win. You and him made the most sense. And like, if you beat Sean Brady and Homsod beats Nate, which I, believe he will. Like, that's the only other fight that would happen, right?

Like, you and Hamza, come on. Like, come on. Like, there's no, like, it just drives me nuts

that that's not the one that's happening. It's not a knock on Sean Brady and it's not a knock on Nadeez. It's just the nature of matchmaking on this one frustrates me. Yeah,

exactly. Like, it literally made no sense at all. I mean, you could see what they were trying to do. They were trying to give Comzad an easy fight, honestly, to let him win,

and then, bam, you have Kamar Ushman, who's untouchable, you have Tom Zat who's been untouchable and then you try to sell that fight. Now that Leon won, it changes everything

because now there's no there's not an untouchable champion. Leon showed that he was definitely beatable in that fight and I think that there's no selling point for him. For Kamaro was he's untouchable. He's a powerful founding. He's the goat.

Yada yada yada. So and that's how I feel like the UFC was trying to sell that even fight week for well he's just the second time walking through everybody in the division. I'm like, wait, he hasn't fought me yet. He hasn't fought Comzae yet. He didn't fight Wonderboy or Luque, and those were two guys that they were trying to say

would give him a challenge. But I think that, you know, obviously Camaro was great. He's a great champion, but he wasn't very, like, like the fans really didn't fall into him or navigate toward him. He wasn't a huge draw. So they had to push him as this untouchable guy.

And then they would give him this Comzat who's untouchable. And that all falls. through now. So, yeah, like, after this fight, Tomazat's the only one that makes sense for me or the champion. And I think that it'll end up being something like that because, especially if they do the rematch or they do a Mazdao fight next, there'll still be two more fights that Leon potentially has before he'll defend against either me or Hamza. Like I said, I'm a guy that wants stay active, stay busy. But if I go out there and I start Sean Brady, a guy that's 15 and

know I'll be on the, I'm already on the second longest winning streak in a division right now since, tomorrow lost, nine fight winning street. Like, I feel like I can't be denied, but, you know, there's no telling what will happen. And me and Leon have history. Like you said, we had that. There's a selling point with that. But, yeah, before this fight, Mia comes out, we've gone back and forth on Twitter. We've talked.

We've engaged with each other on Twitter. Like, it made the most sense to me. But obviously, it didn't make no sense to the other. see. Yeah, it did make sense to me at all that didn't happen. And I think that, listen, I don't think they're protecting Hamzot at this point because you don't give him a guy like Gilbert Burns, but I think they're trying to send Nate Diaz out on a, they're trying to send Nate Diaz out on a loss. But the idea that Hamza would earn a title shot off beating Nate Diaz is laughable to me. And that's not a knock on Nate Diaz. That's just the

reality of the situation. So if you're not getting the title shot, which again, it's unfortunate the way this thing played out. Again, it's not Leon, you know, Leon Edwards, you know, credit to him for getting the win. But if you're not, you're not, not going to get the title shot with the winner of Sean Brady, it better be Hamza. That's the only other one that would even make any remote sense. Yeah, exactly. And like I said,

I don't want to sit there and try to look too far ahead. I'm not a guy that does that because John Brady is a tough test. So, like, I want to just focus on him and let us see how. Let's see how it plays out with these other guys in the next couple months. But, yeah, I just already know that it's going to be interesting to see what happens with this division. And, yeah, like, I mean, even like you said, I don't think there's, a lot of guys in the UFC now that

Nadeez could have been. Like I feel like if they would have given Poriet he would have went out on a loss. If they would have given him Chandler, he would have probably went out on a loss. So the Coms had I think was more so I feel like they wanted to guarantee comms out of win so then they could give him

the title shot next. Because if he fights me, I'm a tough matcher for him. And they showed that even at Gilbert fight where the fourth and fifth round, he's going to slow down against anybody. So I think they wanted to make sure all right, let's secure him for sure victory.

So then we can definitely get that Ousman fight. We'll get some of Nate Diaz's his fans. You know, the stars are always going to watch Nate Diaz. So you have NBA guys and what's called guys watching, and they'll be tweeting out about, man, who's this Russian guy that just picked them Nate Diaz, walking to the corner as he's talking to Dana White, having a conversation and this slams him out of his head. It's going to be one of those things.

Yeah, no, I agree. I agree. Real quick below, before I get you out of here, you know, you are, we talked about your own podcast, course, which is an incredible podcast, but you have become a bit of a social media star as well. You have no problem clapping back of people when they say dumb things to you on the internet, which always cracks me out. But I know you had a good clap back on Connor McGregor on Saturday night when he tried

to put up the laughing emoji when you said unfinished business, obviously with the Leon Edwards fight. And you clap back at him, which I did get a good chuckle at that. That was well done. But what thing I wanted to bring up to you real quick? When Camaro lost on Saturday night, we had so many negative reactions. And Connor was tweeting about it. And the other one I want to talk about is Jake Paul. tweeting about it. You're tweeting out photos and done down. Now, Connor is Connor and

Connor's done great things. Let's be honest about that. I don't understand why you would celebrate a guy losing when people were celebrating you breaking your leg. Like that to me seems really like a bad idea to celebrate another guy's loss when you just went through something terrible yourself after you got knocked out prior to that. But Jake Paul was the one that really bugged me because like I didn't, I wish I had tweeted that night, but I just, I didn't want to start a firestorm of people like, you know, going back, I just, I wasn't in the mood for it. But what I would say to Jake Paul is this, when you've done one one thousandth of what Kamar Usman has done in his career, go ahead and talk.

You've done nothing, buddy. Okay, you've done nothing to earn the right to say anything about Kamar Usman or Luke Rockhold for that matter. He was also clapping on Luke Rockhold. You've done nothing. You are 5'0 against a basketball player, a guy who can't box, and a guy and a guy who is an incredible UFC fighter, but he's a wrestler who is not a boxer, and he's also 15, 20 pounds less than you.

Stop talking about Kamar Usman. Stop talking about Luke Rockall. When you've done anything remotely close to what they've done, maybe you can chat. But that one, I mean, to be honest, Malau, it pissed me off. Yeah, no, exactly. Like, when you're seeing guys like that and even kind of McGregor, where you're like, you know how it feels to lose in a championship fight,

you know how it feels to lose in front of your family, man. Just seeing Usman's daughter there and how she broke down is like, it's heartbreaking. And you know what it takes to get in there if you're a Connemagra. But if you're Jake Paul, you don't know what it is to be in there. You don't know what it takes to get in there. So these guys that kick a guy when they're down, it just shows what kind of person they are.

They're just looking for that attention. Kana McGregor is looking for that attention. Jake Paul is looking for that attention. Jake Paul is just trying to change the narrative. He's a guy that, oh, I can sell a million paper reviews. blah blah, blah. Oh, this guy didn't want to fight me at $1.85. So his whole show got canceled because he wasn't the biggest draw as he thinks he is.

And it didn't sell a lot. I think it was a ticket sales that we're out. He'd come up with any excuse he wants. But it just shows that this guy's a straight up loser. And the fact that he's kicking a guy down when he's down like that, it tells you more about them. But that's the world we live in now. We live in the troll world.

We live in the Twitter world where all these people think they can say whatever they want because they're not in front of you and they know that nothing will happen to them and they just give us other people, other trolls, other losers, kids nowadays will create fake accounts where they say the stupidest stinks to somebody and there's a million memes of him getting knocked out, bro,

and it's like, karma always comes back to you. It's going to come back to all these people and especially a guy like Connor McGregor who literally you haven't won a fight in five years. All you do is tweet when a big fight car is coming on because you can have all the money in the world but you don't have any attention anymore,

and that's what you crave the most. You don't have no, you don't have anybody screaming your name anymore, and that's what you want the most. So it just shows it's kind of pathetic where these guys are now. Like you have all the money in the road. What are you still tweeting about? Like, why are you still trying to be involved in this game? Kumar would murder you if you guys fought,

and you know that. So you're just going to stay on the sidelines and be a troll, a person that, like, the trolls are known as these freaking losers that are sitting on their cows or mine's basement, that they get a reaction out of you. And, like, that's their, goal for the days to get some sort of reaction or some sort of laugh and I think they won a gold medal. That's what Connor McGregor is now. That's what Jake Paul is now. It's pathetic. Yeah, it's,

it really irritates me. And like I said, I think in a way, you're right. Conner's worse because Connor's been there. He knows what it's like to go through an awful loss and have people mock you. And, you know, remember when he lost Nate Diaz and everyone said, well, see, he was overrated. He was never as good as we all thought he was and all these kind of things. And the broken and leg, same kind of thing. Like, that's terrible. Like, I don't ever think you should revel in somebody else's misery. Like, I've never understood that, that mentality.

Like, you know, because, like, my heart broke for it. Like, I was legitimately happy for Leon. Like, he went through a lot to get there, legitimately happy the guy went out there, pulled off the comeback, got the win. But I was also legitimately heartbroken for Camaro because it was such a hard situation for him to win the fight, win the fight, and then, you know, have the crazy knockout. But I've never understood that mentality.

Like, that is, like, you're trying to stand on the shoulder to Giants because you can't do what they've done. Like, that just drives me insane. And you're right, Connor might be worse than Jake Paul because Connor's been there. Jake Paul's a professional troll. That's what he is. That's how he got famous. Connor is a fighter.

Connor's been there. Connor knows what it's like to go out and get knocked out and have everyone in the world telling you you suck and you were never as good as you thought you were and all kind of things. You're right. That's probably worse because that's one guy as big as he is. And Connor is a star. We all know that.

but that's the one guy who shouldn't be, who should never revel in somebody else's downfall because he's, you know, you're right, he's gone through a lot. Like, that's the last guy who should be talking on, on Kamar Usman. Yeah, exactly. Like, you've been in there, you felt that. And I'm always a guy that I'll never, like, share somebody getting knocked out. Like, I've had my altercations with Sean Strickland and then seeing him get knocked out. Everybody's like, oh, they'll tag me and stuff and videos of him getting knocked out.

I'm not, I'm never going to share that. Because, like I said, I know. know what it takes to get in there. He may be the biggest loser in the world, but like, still, you, you know, he works hard and you know that you could, you could act this tough way and act like you don't care about wins and the loss or anything, but when you lose a fight, when you lose in front of your family, when you lose it on TV, and that way, it's, it's hard-breaking because it's the highest highs and the lowest lows. And in this world nowadays where, you know, mental mentality and there's so many, like, people out here depressed and things like that,

like you never know what somebody's going through. Like they'll have a smile on their face, but behind the scenes and their own head, there's probably some crazy stuff going on. And especially when you lose a fight, there's always that man. You go to a grocery store, you go anywhere.

Like you don't want to be around people. You don't want people to, you're thinking that every single person is talking about you, whether even with your family and friends. Like, you'll know who's really true, who's really with you after a loss because that's when all the other people go away. They don't want to talk to him or like after when. Oh, that's my cousin.

I know that guy. blah, blah, blah, this is my dude. And after a loss, like, those people don't message you. Those people don't know who you are. They don't post about you. They don't ask how you're doing. How's your mentality right now? And it's just you, it's yourself, you in your own head,

and you're just thinking about that loss. You're thinking about what I could have did. What did I do wrong? Why did God do this to me? Why did God treat me this way? And I just know that I know what Kamau is going through right now. And I just hope that he has the right people around him, the family around him, and just mentally gets through.

this. How would a fight between you and Connor McGregor go? I would dominate him so easily. I would literally pull my hands behind the back thing because that's a fight that I would, I would definitely want and I don't think he would, there's no possible way that he would ever get on the cage with me. Yeah, I talked to Gilbert about this and Gilbert's like, it just wouldn't be fair. Like, he's like, it just, with him, him against the top five, six welterways just wouldn't be a fair fight. Like, there might be welterways he could be, but there won't be a top, like, five or six. And I like, I want to be clear, I like Connor. I actually really like. Conner's always been incredibly nice to me, incredibly good to me.

I always bring up this story when I got laid off my old job, when they fired all the writers of my old job. Conner's one of the first people to reach out to me and say, man, that really sucks. Like, I hate they did that to you. And I'm like, wow, that means a lot. Like, Connor would reach it. So I like Connor very, very much. But yeah, like, I've said, and he got mad at me. He got mad at me when I said on Twitter a few months ago. I said he's not a welterweight. Like he's just not. Like, I don't, it's not a knock on Connor that's like, I don't see how that's an insult. Like, that's just like me saying like, yeah, I don't think like, you know, certain people just aren't built like for a weight class.

Like, you know, like I love, I love Kamara was willing to go to light heavyweight. He's not really a light heavyweight, though. Like, that's no one's going to say that he's really a light heavyweight. Yeah. Connor's not a welterweight. He's just not. He's not a welterweight. Exactly.

There's weight classes for a reason. Like, and especially the top five in the water weights, when your weakness is grappling, your weakness is wrestling. everybody in the top five is the grappler as a wrestler. Honestly, I see now that Tony Ferguson moved up to 170. I can see if he gets a victory somehow over Lee Jiangme. I could see Connor against him maybe. That could probably be the only one that really wouldn't make sense. But anybody else in the Russellry Division, there's no chance for him.

Yeah. Well, like I said, there's two sides. Like I said, the way this whole thing played out, it's unfortunate in a lot of ways because, again, And I think you should have be one went away. And I know, by the way, we did a story. Oh, you probably remember this years ago when you were going to Abu Dhabi for first time. We did a big story on that because I know how much it meant to you to fight over there and actually get a chance.

So I know this is cool for you to go back to Abu Dhabi, have a big fight against Sean Brady on what is going to be a massive car. Let's be honest. This is a massive pay-per-view. So it's a really cool opportunity. But it should have been a title eliminator. Unfortunately, we don't know that's the way it's going to play out. But I know you're a workman, Bilau. I know you're going to go out there and beat Sean Brady the same way, whether Leo.

one, Camaro one, Homelot one, you're going to go out there and do your thing. And listen, you said earlier, one thing you could take a little bit of inspiration from Leon Edwards. Like, he just, he had to keep plugging through. And a lot of bad things happened. The whole pandemic thing and losing a Woodley fight and he still ended up getting his title shot.

You'll get there. You know you'll get there. Maybe a little bit longer road now, but you know you're going to get there. Yeah, exactly. I'm not one of those guys that that sits there and stresses about it. He has anxiety about it. I just know that everybody has their plan. Everybody has their route.

to get to a title shot. Everybody has their, their plan, their story, however they're going to write it. And I want my story to be written down as a guy that never turned down to fight, a guy that stood in there with the best of the best and beat the best of the best when they thought he would lose every single one of those fights. And it's definitely going to end with gold being around my waist. And beyond that, you're also coaching the year. So, you know, you got that going for you too.

I text you, I text you that right after the Amir Sharfut. I was like, so now you're coach of the year, too? Like winning fights isn't enough? You've got to be coach in the year, too? bro yeah man my coaching record is really good for 20 fights though i've had louis taylor uh and you know it's easier when you have a guy like that who just finishes everybody in the first round but uh it's cool to be in the corners of guys in the ufc now uh i'm four and o'clock so it's it's cool and it's just see my boys that you know they they want me to be in a corner they

they see value and having me down there with them so it's always great especially uh a guy like Gerald who's literally taught me so much. And he's a genius and to see him fight and perform exactly like I know that he could. And to beat a guy in Bruno Silva who they thought was going to walk through him, it's always great seeing him get a finish over these guys. Absolutely. Well, Below, it's always a pleasure and an honor to speak to you, my friend. I appreciate you and taking the time right after the fights to talk with me.

Have a great rest of your training camp. When are you going to, are you flying over early to go to Abu Dhabi or when are you going over? Yeah, yeah. I should be going a couple weeks earlier down there to get acclimated to the time zone and everything like that. But, yeah, camps already in full effect, going hard already.

Well, I'll go and put the bug in year right now. You go over when you fly home first interview, right? Like, I get the first one, right?

You already know. Okay. I'm just making, making sure, just making sure. Outside of your own podcast, of course, you got to do your own podcast. But outside of that,

when you fly home, first interview. First job, my brother. Below, it is always a pleasure, my friend. I appreciate taking the time.

Have a great rest of your training camp. I have safe travels over to over Abu Dhaban. Sure, we'll probably talk before then, but I appreciate you always doing the show, and we'll talk soon, okay? For sure. Thank you, my brother. All right, talk to you soon.

All right, bro. Bye-bye. A big thank you, as always, to the great Bilal Bahamad for coming on the show. I always appreciate him. Great insight on the fights. Of course, he was there at Caged side, so of course it worked out really, really well to have him on after the craziness at UFC 278. A lot of we didn't get a chance to talk about because the welterweight situation,

of course, personally affects him. But Luke Rockhold, retiring, legend. Of course, I had, you know, interview with Luke before his fight. Always loved Luke. Incredibly good dude. I always enjoyed being around Luke. Always had fun interviews with Luke. I'm sure we'll talk again, you know, in the near future.

But, you know, a huge career and accomplishment. A credit to Paul Ocosta for pulling off a big win. Maraud de Walsh Vili, who we had on the show a few weeks ago, pulled off a big one over Jose Aldo. So fun card, weird card, elevation card, not the altitude card. Lots to talk about with that one, but a big thank you to Bilal Muhammad for coming on, breaking down things with me. I always appreciate him and taking the time for me. He's a legend and a great analyst on top of everything else,

and on top of being one of the best Walter weights, and now one of the coaches of the year. So a big thank you to Bilal. We'll be back next week for more Fighter versus Ryder. Of course, we're leading into the UFC's return, which will be in Paris on my birthday of all times. It's actually happening on my birthday. So that should be a fun card coming up between Cyril Gan and Taito Ivasa and plenty more coming with the show. So I appreciate everyone that tunes in each every week.

Make sure you check out all the podcast platforms for the show, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and of course over on MMAFighting.com. Thanks again to Bilal Mohamed for doing the show this week. We appreciate everyone tuning in to another edition of the Fighter versus the Ryder. We'll see you next week. See you then.