After losing his welterweight title to Belal Muhammad this past Saturday at UFC 304, Leon Edwards’ head coach, Dave Lovell, has revealed that the Brit went into the fight with an ongoing back injury.
Despite getting to once again defend his UFC title on home soil, Leon Edwards had to do so at 5:30 am, which immediately following the fight, he claimed was the reason for his lackluster performance.
Belal Muhammad dominated the Brit for the large majority of the fight, picking up the unanimous decision victory.
Leon Edwards’ head coach reveals an ongoing back injury plagued his camp
Since the disappointing loss, Edwards has broken his silence by apologizing to his fans, claiming that he will get the title back ‘in blood’.
Not only that but his head coach, Dave Lovell has also come out and made a revelation in regards to ‘Rocky’s’ fight camp. Lovell has revealed that the 32-year-old was suffering from an ongoing back injury throughout his UFC 304 fight camp.
“I’m not making excuses for him, he had a few niggles in camp, his back was niggling him so he couldn’t wrestle the way he really needed to offensively and defensively because of the niggle that occurred about 2 or 3 times,” Lovell told Submission Radio.
Having made the admittance, Lovell went on to commend Muhammad for his performance, not wanting to take away from his title win. Despite that, he did admit that Edwards and his team did have a conversation in regard to possibly withdrawing from the fight, because of the back injury.
“Believe it or not, we had a powwow about it and I was very dubious because these niggles were going on for about five or so weeks on and off. He had to go to a chiropractor, regular massages but again after one session he was back to square one.
“In the back part of my mind, I was thinking should we really go for this but because he hadn’t fought for so long Leon said he wanted it, so we just pushed forward through the injury and trained through the injury,” Lovell stated.
The head coach also slammed the decision to hold the fight at 5:30 am, questioning which champion has ever had to defend their belt at such a ridiculous time.
“Which fighter have you ever seen in his own country come out at half past five in the morning to fight, realistically it’s a joke really. Belal never really had to adjust… It just doesn’t seem right somehow,” he continued.
Lovell wants Ian Machado Garry next for Edwards
There are already foundations laid for a possible welterweight clash between ‘Rocky’ and Ian Machado Garry.
The Irishman spent several months training at Edwards’ gym in Birmingham, where they seemingly built up a respectful relationship. Despite that, ‘The Future’ was asked not to return to the gym as the coaches believed he didn’t fit the team.
With the 26-year-old continuing to pick up wins, it is a fight that could be justified, and UFC CEO Dana White likes the sound of it.
“I’d like to see Leon fight Ian Garry. Obviously, we can keep it British-based in either Ireland or over here (in the UK). As you know there is a little background story we have going back last year, (Garry’s) looking for a scalp.
“Now Leon’s not the champ, he may think it’s a good scalp for him to get to obviously march on to get a title shot. For Leon, if he beats him that then puts him at the back of the queue, if they wanted one more (after that) before he fights Belal if he’s still got the belt, then that’s the future plan,” Lovell outlined.
After seeing ‘The Future’ in training during his time at Team Renegade, Lovell believes Edwards would beat Machado Garry because of his fight experience.
“Leon would beat him with the simple fact of fight experience. (Garry) is a good lad, he’s got good skills, but we know because when he was at our gym, don’t just think he came to the gym and it was an (easy) ride for him, he was getting tapped out by again, I’m not mentioning any names… He was getting tapped out while he was learning,” Lovell claimed.
- MIDDLEWEIGHT: Former foe says he’d ‘like to see’ Leon Edwards move to middleweight as ‘Rocky’ shares first statement since UFC title loss