UFC 304: Leon Edwards, Belal Muhammad Share Their Side of Awkward Elevator Ride

Edwards and Muhammad ran into each other on the latest episode of UFC Embedded.

(via UFC Embedded) /

UFC 304 headliners Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad had their first face-off... inside an elevator?

UFC 304 Preview: Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad, Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes

It wasn't the most ideal of places, but that's where the welterweights ended up just days before their title fight at UFC 304. Edwards will attempt to defend his title for a third time when he meets Muhammad - a most-heated rival that hasn't been afraid to speak his mind ahead of his first title fight.

Edwards and Muhammad have a score to settle dating all the way back to 2021, which saw Edwards eye poke the rising contender in their first meeting, leading to a No Contest result for both.

Well, That Was Awkward...

There's no love lost between Edwards and Muhammad heading into ther rematch on Saturday, and that much was clear whenever Edwards entered an elevator with Muhammad on Tuesday with footage of the interaction going viral over the Internet (via UFC 304: Embedded Ep. 3).

Too close for comfort 👀

An unexpected staredown before #UFC304 pic.twitter.com/R1PvABnFmg

— UFC (@ufc) July 24, 2024

Muhammad made eye contact with Edwards seconds after the elevator door opened, and with Edwards not waiting on the next one to arrive he walked right by the top contender with his team accompanying him. Someone from Edwards' team said they smelled p**** in the elevator, with Muhammad clapping back, saying "the v****a just walked in."

Muhammad's POV

"Remember The Name" had much more to say after they exited the elevator, going back-and-forth with one of Edwards' coaches in the video. Asked about the exchange at UFC 304 media day, Muhammad says in the moment he was trying to "size up" Leon's brother, Fabian Edwards, a middleweight fighter signed to Bellator MMA.

"I just heard like a little short freaking midget screaming something. And I was like, 'What the heck was that?' I saw and ended up being his coach in front. But Leon and his team, they didn't say nothing," the challenger said of his elevator run-in with Edwards. "His brother [Fabian] was trying to give me a dirty look, but he didn't know I was sizing him up for after the cage. If he ends up hopping in the cage, wanting to do something."

UFC Welterweight contender Belal Muhammad. / Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

Edwards: "It Was Mad Quiet..."

Edwards, on the other hand, believes Muhammad didn't think he'd come into the elevator after initially seeing him.

"I was going up to to floor 3, it opened. He was, like, standing right there in front, and I think he thought in his head, I wouldn't wanna came into the lift," Edwards said at UFC 304 media day. "I walked straight into the lift and pressed number 3, and that that was it. Came out, then it's weird because in the lift, it was mad quiet."

UFC Welterweight Champion Leon Edwards. / Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

"Then, after the lift opened, everyone's outside. He's like, 'Oh, p****,' blah blah blah. I was like, 'Bro, why didn't you say all this in the lift?'"Edwards said before laughing off Muhammad's comments made towards his brother Fabian.

The two welterweights will finally have the chance to settle their bad blood on Saturday night in the main event of UFC 304, which also features another rematch in the co-main event when Tom Aspinall defends his interim heavyweight title against Curtis Blaydes.

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