Belal Muhammad has made his prediction for the UFC Tampa main event between Colby Covington and Joaquin Buckley, and it’s clear who he’s rooting for. The upcoming fight marks Covington’s return to action after a one-year layoff.
Muhammad, who has a long-standing rivalry with Covington, is hoping that Buckley delivers a crushing defeat to ‘Chaos’. The UFC welterweight champion doesn’t believe Covington’s striking will be enough to overcome Buckley’s boxing and knockout power.
Muhammad took to Instagram to reveal his betting pick by circling Buckley’s image in the UFC Tampa poster. He captioned the post:
“Bicks are locked in this is the lock of the night.”
Check out the Instagram post below:
Previewing the fight on his Remember The Show podcast, Muhammad suggested that Buckley’s athleticism will allow him to defend Covington’s takedowns effectively and avoid getting trapped against the fence. Muhammad also asserted that Buckley is capable of breaking Covington’s jaw, recalling how Kamaru Usman previously did the same. He said:
“I’m hoping that Buckley breaks his jaw. I hope that Buckley puts him out cold, and I think that Buckley can put him out cold. Colby’s striking is terrible, his wrestling looked awful in his last fight. I think Buckley is athletic enough to defend those takedowns.”
Muhammad added:
“You don’t need to shoot on Colby because Colby can’t strike. There’s nothing he’s going to be throwing at you that’s going to be scary. It’s not going to hurt so, just take all of his punches, stand there in the middle, take one and then give him one, and show him that there are levels to striking. I think that Buckley can finish him, knock him out. We’ve seen Colby have his jaw broken before by Kamaru [Usman]who sucks with striking. So, I think Buckley who has way more power, way better boxing can put Colby to sleep.”
Check out Belal Muhammad‘s comments below (38:30):
Covington’s last fight was a unanimous decision loss to Leon Edwards in his third bid to secure the undisputed 170-pound gold. Buckley, meanwhile, is riding the momentum of a five-fight win streak, capped by a stunning knockout victory over Stephen Thompson at UFC 307.
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Edited by Abhishek Nambiar
