March 19, 2025 7: 00 pm ET
Dave Lovell insists we didn’t see nearly the best version of Leon Edwards when he fought Belal Muhammad at UFC 304.
Edwards (22-4 MMA, 14-3 UFC) lost his welterweight title to Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) by unanimous decision last July. Edwards reiterated his discontent with having to fight in the middle of the night in Manchester to cater to the U.S. pay-per-view time, which he says heavily impacted his performance.
His head coach agrees.
“There were some major factors leading up to the fight, forget the minor injury apart,” Lovell said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.”. “In England, when have you ever heard of a sportsman performing 6 o’clock in the morning? It’s never been heard of before, and no doubt you’ll never hear of it again.
“It was just a freaky moment in time, and Leon had to deal with it. To lose to Belal in the fashion he lost to him, the world knows he’s a lot better than that. We know. Most and foremost, he knows he’s better than that. Yeah, it was a major setback, but we’re on the road back to gold. What more can I say to that?”
Edwards will look to rebound when he takes on Sean Brady (17-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Figh