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Leon Edwards' coach, Dave Lovell, has revealed that the English fighter is almost guaranteed to return to the octagon at UFC 304. Edwards was initially expected to fight at UFC 300, but the matchup fell through.
Lovell said that Edwards was prepared to face any of the three opponents offered by the UFC - Shavkat Rakhmonov, Khamzat Chimaev, and Islam Makhachev - but none of them were available due to Ramadan.
Lovell indicated that Edwards' next opponent will likely be Belal Muhammad, Speaking to TalkSPORT MMA, the coach said:
"I think it will be Belal [Muhammad] next. It’s not written in stone, but 99.9 per cent [of me] thinks it will be Belal… Leon is looking forward to the July bill, he starts his camp next week, for a 12-week camp and we are sharpening up our tools to deal with Mr. Belal”
Edwards and Muhammad previously faced off in March 2021, but the fight ended in a no-contest after an accidental eye poke by Muhammad. With a winning streak of nine fights and a No. 2 ranked in the current welterweight ranking, 'Remember My Name' appears to be the frontrunner for Edwards' next matchup.
Leon Edwards' coach believes Belal Muhammad tried to "steal a decision" in their first fight
Appearing in the same interview, Leon Edwards’ coach, Dave Lovell, questioned Belal Muhammad's performance in their first encounter, which ended in a no-contest due to an accidental eye poke in the second round.
Lovell believes Edwards was on his way to a clear victory:
“If the eye poke never happened, I believe Leon would've finished [Belal] in the second round,"
Lovell went further, suggesting Muhammad might have exaggerated the severity of the eye poke to avoid a potential defeat:
“To me... Belal was looking for a way out, he was looking to steal a decision. The eye poke, and the noise he made literally crying and screaming... it's funny that he didn't have to go to hospital, he didn't have any eye damage. So what does that tell you."
Check out Leon Edwards’ coach sharing his take in the clip below:
Check out the full interview below:
