Russian fighter, ASA champion Albert Toumenov In a conversation with , he said that the unusual time for the start of the fight with Belal Mohammed should not have affected the former UFC champion’s form Leon Edwards .
The main event of UFC 304, Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad, in Manchester began at 05:30 local time, with the UFC relying on convenient TV broadcast times for US residents. The welterweight title loser Edwards cited this as one of the reasons for his defeat to challenger Muhammad.
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“It seems to me that this cannot be the main reason for the defeat, but they still fought at five in the morning.” What would you do if you had to fight at five in the morning?
– I would adapt. They know in advance when the fight will take place. If you are a champion, you adapt. Besides, he fought at home, what prevented him from preparing for it? Belal Muhammad came from another country and prepared. I think that’s where the justification comes in. You know in advance what time the fight will take place. Even if we fight in Moscow for about 23-24 hours, I try to train during this time so that the body gets used to it.
— Do you think that now, outside the ACA, the league with the strongest fighters in the category up to 77 kg is not even the UFC, but the PFL, where Magomed Magomedkerimov, Magomed Umalatov and Shamil Musaev are?
— These are my friends, we trained together for five years with Magomedkerimov and Magomed Umalatov. In general, they are very, very strong guys, of course, if we now take the welterweight division, I think the UFC does not have the strongest roster in the world. There are good guys in the PFL, and the ACA has a very strong roster, and the UFC welterweight division is going through a big talent crisis. This is Shavkat Rakhmonov, he has a great chance to become champion. But if you look at it in general: Edwards was not really a champion, and neither was Belal Muhammad. There is nothing you can take away from him that would make me watch the fight and say: “Oh yeah”. He is not the kind of fighter that captivates fans.
— Who do you consider to be the strongest welterweight in the world today?
– I believe that I am the strongest welterweight in the world. For some reason, people believe that somewhere, in America, some fighters could be stronger than our fighters. But look at my last fight, how it was, what level of preparation I and my opponent had. It was really a title fight. And this morning we watched a fight that did not look like a title fight, “Tumenov told .
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I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
