Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad are set to fight for a second time in the main event of this Saturday's stacked UFC 304 card in Manchester, England.

The pair's first meeting, in 2021, was derailed by an inadvertent eye poke from Edwards, which ruled Muhammad out of the contest early in the second round.

They will both be looking for a more decisive outcome this Saturday, and the stakes will be even higher because this time around, there will be a title on the line.

A little over a year after his no-contest with Muhammad, Edwards claimed the welterweight belt with a stunning knockout of Kamaru Usman. He has since defended it with decision wins over Usman and Colby Covington.

In the same time frame, Muhammad asserted himself as the top contender for the belt, with five wins over top welterweights, including former title challengers Demian Maia, Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson and Gilbert Burns.

Edwards is favored to come out on top in the rematch, but even he has acknowledged Muhammad has "definitely improved" since their first fight.

Keep scrolling to see how the two welterweight stars match up on paper, and for our best shot at a prediction.

Striking

Belal Muhammad is not known as a striker, but he likes to strike. According to UFCStats.com, he lands 4.55 significant strikes per minute in the Octagon — substantially more than Edwards' 2.75 rate. However, this doesn't paint the full picture of the striking situation between these two welterweights.

While Muhammad lands more overall, his accuracy rate is only 43 percent, while Edwards is 53. He also absorbs substantially more punishment than Edwards, eating 3.64 significant strikes per minute to the champion's 2.34.

The implication is that, while Muhammad throws more, he is not as efficient a striker as Edwards.

Of course, there is one stat that illustrates this better than any other.

Muhammad has finished just five of his 23 victories with strikes, and most of those were TKOs on the ground. Edwards, meanwhile, holds seven knockout or TKO victories in 22 wins, and several of those were clean, one-strike finishes.

It would be inaccurate to call either man a prolific knockout artist, but there is no question that Edwards is the more polished, technical striker, and that he has a significant advantage in terms of stopping power, both with his arms and legs.

Just ask Kamaru Usman.

Edge: Edwards

Wrestling

Belal Muhammad doesn't have the wrestling background of recent Leon Edwards opponents like Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington, but he has evolved into one of the most effective wrestlers in the welterweight division.

He completes just under two takedowns per 15 minutes in the Octagon and showed a particular takedown process in his recent wins over Vicente Luque and Stephen Thompson, who he grounded five and seven times respectively. He's also good at keeping people on the mat when he gets them there. Against Luque, for example, he racked up 7:29 of control time. Against Thompson, meanwhile, he had just shy of 12 minutes of control time — and that was a three-round fight.

When he can get his wrestling going, he can be a big, big problem for his opponents.

On the other side, Edwards isn't quite as enthusiastic about wrestling, completing 1.25 takedowns per 15 minutes in the Octagon, but that's largely because he prefers to do his fighting on the feet. However, his defensive wrestling is a big part of why he's able to do that. The champion boasts a solid takedown defense rate of 70 percent, which looks quite good compared to Muhammad's 35 percent takedown accuracy rate.

Edwards won't make it easy for Muhammad to wrestle in Saturday's fight, but Muhammad is the superior wrestler overall.

Edge: Muhammad

Submissions

Neither Leon Edwards nor Belal Muhammad are known for their submissions in the Octagon, but both have some credentials in the jiu jitsu department.

Muhammad is a purple belt under Daniel Wanderley. He has won one fight by submission — a 2019 rear-naked choke against Takashi Sato — and has attempted submissions in two other UFC fights. He has never been submitted.

Edwards, meanwhile, is a black belt under Thomas Bracher. He has won three fights by submission throughout his career, most notably a rear-naked choke against Albert Tumenov in the Octagon in 2016. He has attempted submissions in four other UFC fights, including two tries in his recent fight with Colby Covington. Like Muhammad, he has also never been submitted.

Based on the fact that neither guy is usually chasing submissions, it's unlikely submissions will be a huge factor in their upcoming rematch. However, the stats and the simple fact that Edwards is a black belt suggest that he has the upper hand in this area.

Edge: Edwards

X-Factors

Leon Edwards' X-Factor: Confidence

As we've covered, Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad first met in 2021, in a fight that ended early due to an inadvertent eye poke. While that fight left a lot of unanswered questions as to which fighter is superior, it's fair to say Edwards was in control of the matchup from the start to the time it was called off. He was landing some hard shots on his opponent and didn't seem to be at any serious risk at any point.

That should give him a lot of confidence in this rematch. He knows he can perform well against Muhammad — even if we're talking about the 2021 version of Muhammad — and that should give him the guts to push the pace and impose himself early in the fight.

Muhammad's X-Factor: The Element of Surprise

Muhammad was a step behind Edwards in their first fight, and despite his incredible win streak, he will enter the rematch as an underdog. That's due in large part to the fact that he is not considered a big threat on the feet, which implies he will be in serious trouble if he doesn't succeed on his takedowns.

However, Muhammad's coaches have recently made some big proclamations about his improvements in the striking department, going so far as to say his boxing is now reminiscent of boxing champ Saul "Canelo" Alvarez's. There is frankly no way that comparison is valid, but if it's true that Muhammad has leveled up as a striker, there is a chance he will be able to catch Edwards by surprise and turn this into the kind of fight the Brit did not prepare for.

Prediction

Belal Muhammad catches a lot of flack from MMA fans. Whether that's due to the lack of finishes on his resume, his brash confidence, or something else is difficult to say, but it's undeserved. He's a great fighter, and as he's proven in recent wins over the likes of Gilbert Burns, Stephen Thompson, and Vicente Luque, he is fully capable of handling high-level opposition.

However, there are levels to this sport, and for all his improvements, Muhammad does not seem to be on the level of Kamaru Usman or Colby Covington, both of whom Edwards has beaten decisively.

In the end, this fight will probably go the way most people expect it to. Muhammad will look for takedowns. Edwards will deny the bulk of them, and respond with a more accurate and powerful striking attack.

The big question seems to be whether the champion will simply coast to a clear-cut decision, or finish his foe after several rounds of punishment. Given that he'll have the Manchester crowd behind him, we'll give him the benefit of the doubt and go with the latter option.

Edwards softens his opponent up with punches and kicks to the head and body for 10 or 15 minutes, then stings him with a fight-ender in the championship rounds.

Prediction: Leon Edwards by fourth-round TKO