Winner of Gilbert Burns, Belal Muhammad fight to get welterweight title shot

Winner of Gilbert Burns, Belal Muhammad fight to get welterweight title shot

UFC 288 will take place tomorrow at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The co-main event will feature two welterweight contenders in Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad and the winner of this five-round bout will earn themselves a title opportunity against the future winner of Leon Edwards and Colby Covington, UFC president Dana White announced Thursday.

“One hundred percent … yes, the guy who wins this fight will get the next shot,” White said at the pre-fight press conference.

(Quotes via Yahoo Sports)

Burns vs. Muhammad has potential to be a barn burner, with both fighters fully understanding what is at stake.

The co-main event of UFC 288 originally had Charles Olivera vs. Beneil Dariush slated, but Olivera pulled out of the fight with an undisclosed injury. This forced the lightweight division’s No. 1 contender bout to be pushed back to UFC 289.The Burns-Muhammad fight got thrown together as a replacement, with both fighters getting less than a month’s notice.

UFC 288 will be the third time in less than five months that Gilbert Burns has stepped into the octagon, winning via submission over Neil Magny and via decision against Jorge Masvidal less than a month ago.

Belal Muhammad, a devout Muslim, jumped straight into training camp for this fight after completing Ramadan, a month-long religious holiday in which Muslim observers do not eat or drink from sunrise until sunset. Burns-Muhammad is the result of two fighters that have been awaiting a title shot for years now. Both fighters understand this is their best and quickest path to a title shot.

Despite both fighters having legitimate reasons not to fight, it will be the fight the fans want. The fans will get their wish tomorrow night, and a new No. 1 contender in the welterweight championship picture.

Leon Edwards is Holding up the Welterweight Division

White has remained adamant in the media that Covington will be Edwards’ next fight as welterweight champion. The location and date of the fight are not official. However, the UFC returns to London on July 22 and is likely the desired location for Edwards’ second title defense — especially given the success and hype of his most recent fight against Kamaru Usman in London.

Dana White: Colby Covington next in line to fight Leon Edwards

Edwards, unfortunately, dismissed this possibility of a London fight in July during an interview with MMA Fighting.

“July is 100-percent too soon,” Edwards told MMA Fighting in April. “I fought in March, just under a month ago, and I’m still dealing with injuries and stuff that I had to deal with before I even consider getting back into a training camp. If I’m fighting in July, that means I’m going back into training camp next week, and that’s just not possible.

“I would love to do Abu Dhabi in October. I think that would be a great time frame for me to compete, but there’s actually no clear No. 1 contender. There’s no one actually out there that’s actually earned it,” said Edwards. “So now I’ve just got to look towards business. I will sit back, talk to the UFC, talk to my team and see what’s best.”

The winner of Burns-Muhammad will certainly deserve the next welterweight title shot. Having to wait over five months just to know their opponent leaves room for a lot to happen, however. White has not backed down about Covington being next up for the next title opportunity. The question is when will the winner of Burns vs. Muhammad get their crack at a title fight?

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