UFC 304 successfully lived up to the hype! After five rounds, the main event fight between Belal Muhammad and Leon Edwards ended with Muhammad claiming victory via unanimous decision. The Palestinian fighter kept his promise to his homeland and became the first-ever Palestinian UFC champion. Needless to say, the main event was filled with wrestling techniques and breathtaking takedowns executed by the new welterweight champion.

In the pre-fight press conference, King Green asked the UFC CEO, Dana White, for a $100 thousand bonus. He promised that he would spice things up inside the Octagon for the money. When the UFC head honcho looked at Edwards, the former welterweight champion gave him a nod. White was left with no option but to agree with the fighters and promise the hefty win bonus. Unfortunately, neither of the fighters were able to get a submission win.

‘Remember The Name,’ however, extracted a lot of ‘Oohs’ and ‘Aahs’ from the crowd by throwing Edwards and handling him like a rag doll. To confirm, ‘Spiking’ or any form of that such as pile-driving is illegal in MMA. According to ‘ THE ASSOCIATION OF BOXING COMMISSIONS AND
COMBATIVE SPORTS,’ “any throw where you control your opponent’s body placing their feet up in the air with their head straight down and then forcibly drives the opponents head into the canvas or flooring material,” is deemed as pile driving and thus warrants disqualification, or to the least, a warning!

Although this is a general rule for all boxing and MMA sports personnel, the list of UFC rules also concurs. The world of mixed martial arts seemed pretty upset with how ‘Remember The Name’ kept smashing ‘Rocky’ on the canvas. But when Edwards landed on his head, the fight fans blamed Muhammad for deploying an illegal move. Let’s dive right into it.

Was Belal Muhammad’s spike against Leon Edwards illegal?

Some of the fight fans believed that it was an illegal spike that should have disqualified Muhammad immediately. The comment read, “Illegal, Belal should’ve been disqualified.” Another fan wrote, “Illegal then strikes him twice on the back of his head Lmfao.” One more fan wrote, “He wasn’t spiked. The drop had an arc. Spiking is straight down and is illegal.” However, some fans had different opinions. “Pretty sure that’s not legal unless they are holding onto a submission,” a fan wrote.

Needless to say, most fans were worried about the move. The way Edwards landed on the ground, could have snapped his neck. If the former champion had a weak neck, he could have been paralyzed because of the throw. One fan wrote, “Could have easily killed him, or paralysis. Leon better be thanking God tonight.” Another comment read, “That could have ended so badly damn.” But the damage was already done and Edwards would indeed get a sore neck within the next few hours. Without a doubt, the fight fans noticed this aspect of the throw, as well. “When he wakes up, he’s not going to be able to turn his neck for a few days,” wrote a fan.

As the conversation on the social media platform continued, the fight fans were pretty impressed with ‘Rocky’ standing back up after the dangerous throw. While the fight should have been stopped to allow Edwards to recover, the bout went on with Muhammad dominating the Octagon. One fan pointed this out in his comment and quoted, “How was he not given time to recover after that?”

Did the fight roll as per your predictions? Let us know what you think of the fight in the comments down below.