It’s almost impossible for opponents to avoid each other during fight week, but Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad got a little too close for comfort ahead of UFC 304.
As the welterweights prepare to battle in the main event on Saturday, Muhammad was riding an elevator at the host hotel when the doors opened and he found Leon Edwards staring back at him. Rather than waiting for a different elevator, Edwards and his team walked right in, which led to the awkward interaction between Muhammad and his team.
“I was going up to floor three, [the elevator] opened and he was standing right there in front,” Edwards said at UFC 304 media day. “I think he thought in his head that I wouldn’t come into the lift so I walked straight into the lift and said, ‘Press No. 3,’ and that was it.”
While the scene could have turned ugly in a hurry, Muhammad said only Leon Edwards’ head coach Dave Lovell decided to jaw at him during the close quarters encounter.
“I just heard a little short freaking midget screaming something, and I was like, ‘What the heck was that?’” Muhammad said. “I saw it ended up being his coach in front, but Leon and his team didn’t say nothing.
“His brother [Fabian Edwards] 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.”
Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad actually did end up exchanging words, but only after both fighters exited the elevator. That’s when the real chirping began.
UFC Embedded cameras actually captured the whole interaction as Edwards and his team jumped in the elevator where Muhammad and his squad were already waiting. While there were a few words exchanged, nothing got too heated until after everyone exited.
Leon Edwards says he actually expected Muhammad to address him while they were both stuck in the elevator together, but the talking didn’t start until after they escaped the claustrophobic situation.
“It was weird because in the lift he was mad quiet, and then after the lift opened and everyone’s outside, he’s like, ‘Oh p*ssy, blah, blah, blah.’” Edwards said. “Like bro, why didn’t you say all this in the lift? I don’t know.”
As far as Muhammad sizing up his brother — Bellator middleweight Fabian Edwards — the reigning UFC welterweight champion only cracked a smile and laughed.
“Oh God, that’s funny,” Edwards said.
Obviously nothing turned physical, but Muhammad was actually more impressed by Leon Edwards’ coach than he was with his opponent when it came to hyping up the fight.
“I’d rather have his coach talk,” Muhammad said. “Because his coach was talking trash [in the elevator], it would be a [funnier] build-up talking with that little gremlin.”