“Which fighter have you seen in his own country come out at 5am in the morning to fight? Realistically, it’s joke. Belal never really had to adjust because his clock is set to the times of what he was [used to] fighting to. But Leon in his own country had to adapt as if he was climatizing, as if he was fighting in another country. It just doesn’t seem right somehow. But it is what it is.” —Dave Lovell
Coach Dave Lovell is not making any kind of excuses for Leon Edwards.
BUUUUUUUUUT the former welterweight champion was hampered by a lingering back issue in the days and weeks leading up to the UFC 304 pay-per-view (PPV) main event, where “Rocky” was routed by longtime nemesis and newly-crowned 170-pound titleholder Belal Muhammad.
“I’m not making any kind of excuses for him, but we had a few niggles in camp,” Lovell told Submission Radio. “His back was niggling him so he couldn’t wrestle the way he really needed to offensively and defensively, you know, because of the niggle that recurred about maybe two or three times. Well, not taking nothing away from Belal’s performance, you know he did well, he done well. The best man won on the night. But Leon will be back.”
There even came a time when Team Rocky considered withdrawing from UFC 304.
“Well, believe it or not, we had a powwow about it, and I was very dubious because these niggles was going on for about maybe five, five or so weeks on and off,” Lovell continued. “He had to go to a chiropractor, regular massages. But again, after one session it was back to square one. So in the back part of my mind, you know, I was thinking, well, should we go for this? But because he hadn’t fought for so long Leon said he wanted it. So we just pushed forward with the injury, train through the injury and try to, you know, get through and get a victory. Unfortunately, it never happened.”
With Edwards removed from the 170-pound throne and unlikely to score a rematch anytime soon, the promotion is expected pair “Rocky” against a top contender like Ian Garry. “The Future” previously trained with Edwards at Renegade in Birmingham until this drama got the Irishman booted from the gym.
“I’d like to see Leon and Garry,” Lovell said. “Obviously we can keep it British based. Either island or over here. As you know their little background story we had going back last year, he’s looking for a scalp. Now, Leon’s not champion. He may think, well, it is a good scalp for him to get to, obviously. March to get a championship belt or a title shot. And for Leon, if Leon beats him that then puts him at the back of the queue. And then maybe if they want one more before he fights back below. If Belal still got the belt; well, that would be the future move, the future plan.”
Perhaps then we can see if these knockout rumors were true.
“Well, Leon would, I believe, beat him with the simple fact of fight experience,” Lovell continued. “He’s a good lad. He’s got good skills. But we know because we’ve seen some when he was at our gym. Don’t just think. He came to the gym and it was a boogie ride for him. You know, he was getting tapped out by again, I’m not mentioning no names. If he wants to mention them, that’s up to him. Yeah. He came to Renegade. He was amongst us. He was getting tapped out while he was learning, but yeah, you know, Ian Garry’s a name that obviously would put Leon back on track, I think so.”
Edwards, 32, is looking to compete again before the end of the year.