UFC Fight Night 187 poster: Belal Muhammad gets first headliner vs. Leon Edwards

Belal Muhammad is set to step into the main event spotlight for his biggest MMA opportunity yet.

With Khamzat Chimaev forced out due to lingering issues from COVID-19, Muhammad (18-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) has stepped in to face top contender Leon Edwards (18-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in the main event of UFC Fight Night 187, which takes place March 13 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

From making his own poster to being featured front and center on an official banner, Muhammad has come a long way. The proud Palestinian has won eight of his past nine, and is currently riding a four-fight winning streak, with his most recent success coming against Dhiego Lima at UFC 258.

Edwards is on an eight-fight winning streak, but hasn’t competed since defeating former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in July 2019. The Brit has endured a stretch of bad luck ever since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, contracting the virus himself and seeing numerous bouts canceled which have delayed his return.

Check out the official poster for UFC Fight Night 187 below (via Twitter):

Just weeks away from @Leon_edwardsmma‘s return to the Octagon!

Your official #UFCVegas21 poster has landed pic.twitter.com/s84jh5nLU9

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) February 26, 2021

The latest UFC Fight Night 187 card includes:

• Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad
• Misha Cirkunov vs. Ryan Spann
• Dan Ige vs. Gavin Tucker
• Eryk Anders vs. Darren Stewart
• Philipe Lins vs. Ben Rothwell
• Jinh Yu Frey vs. Gloria de Paula
• Matheus Nicolau vs. Tagir Ulanbekov
• Matthew Semelsberger vs. Jason Witt
• Davey Grant vs. Jonathan Martinez
• Charles Jourdain vs. Marcelo Rojo
• Ray Rodriguez vs. Rani Yahya
• Nasrat Haqparast vs. Don Madge
• Ricardo Ramos vs. Zubaira Tukhugov
• J.J. Aldrich vs. Cortney Casey

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.