Leon Edwards’ coach suggests injury influenced UFC 304 performance

The Briton lost the welterweight title in a rematch with Belal Muhammad on Saturday

Dave Lovell has said Leon Edwards entered his fight against Belal Muhammad with “a few niggles”, including a back issue.

Edwards lost the welterweight title to Muhammad in the main event of UFC 304, as the latter won their rematch on points on Saturday (27 July).

The pair previously fought in 2021, when Edwards was impressing before accidentally landing an eye poke, which forced a No Contest.

Edwards, 32, looked sluggish against Muhammad, 36, on Saturday, before suggesting that the overnight timing in Manchester had negatively affected him. Now his coach has offered further explanation for Edwards’s subdued showing.

“A lot of people don’t know this, and 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 needed to – offensively and defensively – because of the niggle that recurred maybe two or three times.

“But not taking nothing away from Belal’s performance; he did well. The best man won on the night, and Leon will be back.”

Edwards won the welterweight belt from Kamaru Usman with a stunning knockout in 2022, before retaining the gold against Usman and Colby Covington on points in 2023.

The Jamaican-born Briton’s loss to Muhammad marked the end of a 12-fight win streak, which spanned nine years. UFC president Dana White suggested on Sunday that there will be no instant rematch for Edwards.

Belal Muhammad (right) outwrestled Leon Edwards for the majority of their fight (Richard Sellers/PA Wire)

“I can understand Dana saying that,” Lovell said. “He wants to see a bit more excitement. But as for the next opponent for Leon: Tim [Simpson, Edwards’s manager] said he was going to throw a few names out there, maybe a Shavkat [Rakhmonov] or Ian Garry. We’ll see what we get back.

“Obviously Leon’s got to get himself back in contention to fight for the title. Being a three-time defending champion, I think if he gets one, maybe two wins with a few up-and-coming guns – or one that’s in the top five – I think Leon could get to fight Belal maybe not 2025 but maybe 2026, God willing.”

Ireland’s Ian Machado Garry told The Independent in 2023 that he had been banned from Edwards’s and Lovell’s gym after briefly training there. Edwards’s side claimed it was down to a clash of training cultures.

“I would like to see Leon fight Ian Garry,” Lovell told Submission Radio. “Obviously we can keep it British-based, either Ireland or over here. Obviously there’s the little background story we had going back last year.

Ian Machado Garry after beating Geoff Neal via decision in February (Getty Images)

“Leon would, I believe, beat him with the simple fact of fight experience. 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. He was getting tapped out... He came to Renegade, he was among us, he was getting tapped out while he was learning.

“Yeah, you know, Ian Garry is a name that will put Leon back on track. I think so anyway.”